Constantin Henriquez

There is confusion over the identity of this athlete. He has been listed as competing in both rugby football and tug-of-war in 1900, but at this time, we feel the rugby footballer was Constantin Henriquez and the tug-of-war athlete was Colombian Francisco Henriquez de Zubiria. Both competed for Racing Club de France (RCF). Constantin competed for Olympique from 1894-95, then was with Stade Français in 1898-99 and 1900-01, but was with RCF in 1900. He was also a decent athlete, finishing second in the 1900 French Scholastic Championships in the pole vault with a leap of 2.60 metres.

Constantin Henriquez was from Haiti and became a doctor of medicine there, although he studied in France at l’École Albert le Grand d’Arcueil. He is credited with introducing football (soccer) to Haiti. Photographs of Constantin Henriquez make it apparent that he was of very dark complexion, and he is often considered the first black Olympian.

Although likely a Haitian national in 1900, Constantin Henriquez competed in the 1900 Olympic rugby football competition for Union des Sociétés Français de Sports Athletiques and he was also a member of Stade français in Paris, a French club.