He studied with Mikinosuke Kawaishi, and his assistant, Shozo Awazu. He received a bronze medal at the 1956 World Judo Championships in Tokyo, shared with Anton Geesink, after losing the semi final to winner Shokichi Natsui. He was three times individual European champion (1952, 1958 and 1959), and four times with the French team (1952, 1954, 1955 and 1956). He served as sports director of the International Judo Federation (IJF) from 1979 to 1987.