Sylvio Cator

Sylvio Cator

Filed under: Public Official, Olympic Medalist, Mayor

Sylvio P. Cator was born in Cavaillon, Haiti on October 28 in 1900. he became a soccer player and played for the Trivoli Athletic Club and the Racing Club Haitian.

The soccer stadium of port-au-prince, the Stade Sylvio Cator, bears the name of Haitian Olympic medalist Sylvio Cator.

On September 9th 1928, Sylvio Cator set up a world record with his leap of 7.93m at the Stade De Colombes in Paris. One month before that in the Amsterdam Olympic Games Cator jumped 7.58 metres and won an olymic silver medal.

Had he only jumped 0.16m further, he would have won the Olympic gold medal.

Sylvio Cator brought the first Olympic medal to Haiti in 1928. Sylvio Cator was the founder of the Club Les Sports Generaux. In 1932 he became the vice president of the Union Des Societes Sportive Haitienne (USSH).

In 1946, Sylvio Cator was elected mayor of Port-au-prince. Sylvio Cator died in Port-au-prince, Haiti, on July 21, 1952. On August 16th 1958 the Republic Of Haiti has issued seven postal stamps wearing the effigy of Sylvio Cator.

They were issued on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the world record realized by Cator on September 9th 1928.

Resource: Most of the information was found in a book by haitian author Daniel Supplice - Dictionaire Biographique Des Personalites Politiques (ISBN 99935-623-0-0)