Georges Sainte-Rose

Georges Sainte-Rose began his track and field career representing the island of his birth, Martinique, before competing for France. In 1985 Sainte-Rose won gold for Martinique in the triple jump at the U17 Carifta Games in Barbados. Now as a promising young athlete, he won bronze representing France at the 1987 European Junior Championships in Birmingham, England. After moving up to the senior ranks he produced consistent results at the European and World Championships in the early 1990s, with a top-10 finish at both of them. In 1992 he was selected to represent France at the Barcelona Olympics, but failed to advance from the qualifying round. Sainte-Rose then redeemed himself somewhat by winning silver at the Mediterranean Games the following year, finishing only three centimetres behind compatriot Pierre Camara. He continued to compete for a few more years, but was forced to retire in 1998 due to a ruptured tendon.

In June 2002 Sainte-Rose was arrested as part of a drug trafficking network following the import of 17 kg of cocaine. The drugs came from the French West Indies to supply various nightclubs in Aix in southern France. For his role in the drug smuggling operation Sainte-Rose was handed an eight-year prison sentence, along with a fine of one million euros, in 2004.

Personal Best: TJ – 17.24 (1991).