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

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player.

Biography

As an athlete, he competed in the

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

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

and

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

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 language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

and

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

. 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–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

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 t ...

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 a ...

and served as the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person 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 ...

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). André finished second behind Carl-Axel Christiernsson in the 440 yards hurdles event at the British

1921 AAA Championships The 1921 AAA Championships was the 1921 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 1–2 July 1921 at Stamford Bridge (stadium), Stamford Bridge in London, Eng ...

. In 1913–1914 he played for the national rugby team. André was wounded while serving as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he joined the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

and was killed by German forces in 1943 in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, aged 53. His son

Jacques Jacques or Jacq 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 one hundred identified noble families related t ...

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

References

External links

IOC 1924 Summer Olympics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Geo 1889 births 1943 deaths Athletes from Paris 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 France international rugby union players French aerospace engineers French Air and Space Force personnel French Army soldiers French decathletes French male sprinters French male hurdlers French male high jumpers French male long jumpers French military personnel killed in World War II French pentathletes French rugby union players French World War I pilots Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Oath takers at the Olympic Games Olympic athletes for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic decathletes Olympic male high jumpers Space program of France Supaéro alumni Supélec alumni 20th-century French sportsmen

Biography

References

Further reading

External links