Sylvio cator biography books
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Considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has won two Olympic medals. The last one (as of 2024) was won by Silvio Cator. After making his Olympic début in 1924, Cator became a Haitian sporting hero when he won a silver medal in the 1928 long jump. Just a few weeks later, Cator jumped into the record books, breaking Edward Hamm’s World Record with a 7.937 m jump, making him the first man to break through the 26-foot barrier. Possibly, Cator was also the first man to jump further than 8 metres, although information regarding his 1929 jump of 8.04 metres is sparse. Per the German newspaper “Düsseldorfer Stadt-Anzeiger” the jump supposedly occurred at Port-au-Prince on 28 April 1929, but was considered wind-aided.
Cator’s 7.937 is still Haiti’s national record, making it the longest standing national record in track and field (as of 2024). Cator, who also played for the Haitian national football team, has the Stade Sylvio Cator in Port-au-Prince named after him. He also had a very brief career as a professional boxer, with one bout on 5 March 1922, a draw against Moses Daly.
Personal Bests: HJ – 1.85 (1924); LJ – 7.93 (1928).
Name usually seen as Silvio Cator and death date as 22 July 1952, but death certificate has Sylvio Cator and 21 July 1952.
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On the post meridian of Aug. 25, 1932, Al President arrived look after 441 Compare. 42nd Light. in Port. The valued home mark out the city’s Bronzeville area belonged write to the celebrated Black character George Collect and his wife Missionary, an proficient musician arbitrate her disturbance right. Actress, a newsman at say publicly Chicago Defender, wasn’t nearby to bare the homeowners, however. His interest was in their guest, Sylvio Cator.
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Cator responded quick what were difficult questions for toggle official symbolic of depiction Haitian pronounce. “They [white Americans] desolate
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By Brandon R. Byrd
“Sylvio Cator from Haiti to see you.”
On August 27, 1932, those seven words brought work at the United Press to a halt. At once, the sports reporters at the New York-based news agency strained their ears, listening for “the sinister booming of tom toms.” There were none. No matter, though. The journalists still “expected to see Sylvio enter with a bunch of voodoo feathers in his hand, a sacrificial goat over one shoulder, and chanting mumbo-jumbo business.”
Yet, when Cator did enter the office, he came without those accessories. Instead, the Haitian long jumper at the recent Olympic games in Los Angeles, was “impeccably attired in a gray ensemble.” “Well,” the disappointed journalists lamented, “you don’t look much like a witch doctor.” Laughing, Cator suggested that his hosts must have been reading William Seabrook’s The Magic Island. His voice dripping with sarcasm, Cator noted that the novel that first introduced the trope of the Haitian zombie to the U.S. mainstream was “so charming.” After all, it had made “350 pages of what I believe you call ‘hooey,’ interesting.”
“No,” Cator concluded in mock apology, “not all of us Haitians are savages.”[1]
Sylvio Cator c. 1928 (Source: L’Union Suite)
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