Jacques Rousseau

During the 1970s Jacques Rousseau was one of the best long jumpers in Europe. Born in the overseas department of Guadeloupe in 1951, Rousseau won multiple European and French titles, in addition to competing at two Olympic Games. He won three national outdoor titles (1975–77), along with three national indoor titles (1973, 1975–76), and set a French outdoor record in 1976 of 8.26 metres that stood until 1997. Rousseau won back-to-back European indoor titles in 1975 and 1976, before becoming the European outdoor champion 1978. At the 1972 München Olympics he finished tenth, with him just missing out on a medal four years later in Montréal when he came fourth, just two centimetres behind Frank Wartenberg.

Personal Best: LJ – 8.26 (1976).