Pierre Edmond Payssé (21 November 1873 – 5 December 1938) was a French gymnast and teacher. He won two gold medals at the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece, and later worked to increase participation in women's sports.

Gymnastics career

At the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, Payssé competed in the Men's all-around gymnastic event, a 16-event competition that was the only gymnastics event at the Games. He finished fourth, behind fellow Frenchmen

Gustave Sandras Silvaine Gustave Sandras (24 February 1872 – 21 June 1951) was a French gymnast who competed in the early 20th century. He participated in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, and won the equivalent (see 1900 Summer Olympics) of a gold me ...

, Noël Bas and

Lucien Démanet Georges Lucien Démanet (6 December 1874 – 20 June 1943) was a French gymnast who competed at the turn of the 20th century. He participated in Gymnastics at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the bronze medal with a total score of 293 ...

. At the

1903 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 1st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Antwerp, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherl ...

, Payssé came joint second with and Jules Lecoutre in the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

event. At the

1905 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2nd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Bordeaux, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in ...

, Payssé was part of the French team that won the men's team all-around event. He came third in the individual horizontal bar and

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

events. Payssé won both the Individual all-around, 5 events and Individual all-around, 6 events competitions at the

, Greece. This made him one of only 16 people to win two or more gold medals at the Games. In the same year, Payssé became world champion at the horizontal bar event.

Teaching career

Payssé later worked as a teacher. In 1912, he helped to set up Fémina Sport. Fémina Sports started out as a gymnastics club, but later focused on other sports. Payssé found a permanent location for the club in 1918. In 1915, Fémina Sports competed in France's first all-female interclub athletics competition. In 1917, Payssé helped organise football matches for women's football team Fémina Sports Paris against male opposition. The matches were played for six months until they were blocked by the

Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques The Union of French Athletic Sports Societies (french: Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques (USFSA)) was a former sports governing body in France. During the 1890s and early 1900s it organised numerous sports including athleti ...

, who banned men's football teams in their union from playing women's football teams. In December 1917, Payssé helped to set up the ''

Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France The ''Fédération des sociétés féminines sportives de France'' (FSFSF, later the ''Fédération feminine sportive de France'' (FFSF)) was a French organisation set up to promote women's sport. The FSFSF was responsible for the French wome ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paysse, Pierre 1873 births 1938 deaths French male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1900 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1906 Intercalated Games Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Gymnasts from Paris