Raoul Paoli

Of Corsican descent, Raoul Paoli was the son of a policeman, who joined a sports club in Montrouge, just outside of Paris. In 1907, he joined Stade Français and became a member of the rugby A side until 1914 and played three matches at back for the French national rugby team in 1911-12, scoring one try. As early as 1908, he was selected for the French Olympic team in shot put, discus and javelin throw but did not take part in either discipline. In 1912, he claimed his first French national title in the shot put and eventually took part in the Stockholm Olympics in athletics and wrestling. He was also selected to carry the French Tricolor during the opening ceremony. His achievements were limited placing 16th in the shot put and withdrawing after losing his first-round bout in heavyweight wrestling. At this point, he had already taken five consecutive national wrestling titles as a heavyweight, from 1908-12. Even in boxing, he won the French heavyweight championships in 1913 and 1914.

During World War I, Paoli served in the infantry during the war and became French military champion in the 100 meters. In 1917, he completed the aviation school in Étampes. He then suffered a serious accident with numerous fractures and dislocations, which forced him to be on bed rest for four months and walk on crutches for two years. He received the Croix de Guerre but was then, however, forced to limit his sporting activities to shot put and discus throw. His first major event was the 1919 Interallied Games. Within a period of 15 years, he was selected 20 times for the French athletics team, bettered the French record in the shot put six times, and added seven national titles in the shot put (1919-20, 1922-26) and two in the discus throw (1919, 1926). In 1920, he also took the British title. From 1922, he represented the club Olympique de Paris. In three post-war Olympic Games (1920-28), he competed in shot put and discus throw achieving his best result placing 9th in the shot put in 1924.

After World War I, he took an interest in acting and started playing in movies. He was a supporting actor in a couple of French silent movies. In 1926, he decided to go to the United States to foster his movie career, which ended in 1931 after the introduction of the talkies. He became a friend of boxer Jack Dempsey (1895-1983) and swimmer Duke Kahanamoku. In the late 1920s, he was often seen together with the notorious French female athlete Violette Morris (1893-1944).

After his return to France, Paoli promoted the introduction of professional wrestling in the vélodrome d’hiver in Paris in 1933, together with wrestler Henri Deglane, weightlifters Charles Rigoulot and film director Julien Duvivier (1896-1967). Subsequently, like Rigoulot, he organized wrestling galas. In 1937, he was appointed knight of the Legion of Honor. During World War II, he was a farmer and winegrower.

Personal Bests: SP – 14.69 (1926); DT – 39.90 (1917).