Georges Yvan "Géo" André (13 August 1889 – 4 May 1943) was a French track and field athlete and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. As an athlete he competed at the

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

and

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

in various events, including

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, 400 m sprint, 110 and 400 m hurdles,

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

and

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

. He won a silver medal in the high jump in 1908 and a bronze in the 4 × 400 m relay in 1920, finishing fourth in the 400 m hurdles in

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

and fifth in the

standing high jump The standing high jump is an athletics event that was featured in the Olympics from 1900 to 1912. It is performed in the same way as high jump, with the difference being that the athlete has no run-up and must stand still and jump with both feet ...

in 1908. At the 1924 Olympics he took the

Olympic Oath The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of al ...

and served as the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for the French delegation. André won French titles in 110 m hurdles (1908, 1914, 1919, 1922), 400 m hurdles (1913–14, 1919–20, 1922), high jump (1907–1909, 1911, 1914, 1919), standing high jump (1909, 1911–12, 1914, 1919–20). He held national records in the 110 m hurdles (1908 – 15.8; 1922 – 15.4), 400 m hurdles (1913 – 57.0; 1920 – 57.0/56.0/55.6), high jump (1907 – 1.79; 1908 – 1.80/1.885), and 4 × 400 m relay (1922 – 3:24.0). In 1913–1914 he played for the national rugby team. André was wounded while serving as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After retiring from competitions he worked as a sports journalist for several prominent French newspapers. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

and was killed by German forces in 1943 in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, aged 53. His son

Jacques Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

(1919–1988) competed as a hurdler at the 1948 Olympics.

References

External links

IOC 1924 Summer Olympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Geo French aerospace engineers Supaéro alumni Supélec alumni 1889 births 1943 deaths French Air and Space Force personnel French Army soldiers French World War I pilots French military personnel killed in World War II French male sprinters French male hurdlers French male high jumpers French male long jumpers French pentathletes French decathletes Olympic athletes of France Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France French rugby union players France international rugby union players Athletes from Paris Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Space program of France Olympic male high jumpers Olympic decathletes Oath takers at the Olympic Games

References

Further reading

External links