José Paques

Joséphine Renée Marie Sidonie "José" Paques (born 9 October 1903) was a Belgian track and field athlete and basketball player, being active during the 1920s and 1930s and early 1940s. She was specialized in the field events: discus throw, javelin throw and shot put. She also played basketball.Register of the civil status of Liège, birth certificate 2720, 11 October 1903

Paques was three times national athletics champion and national record holder in the discus throw. As a basketball player she became five times national champion with her club.

Paques was founder of the sports club Athlétisme au Sporting Fémina Club and became president of it.

Sports career
Sports clubs
Initially Paques was a member of Sporting Club Liègois. Later she became a member of Atalante for several years. Early in 1929, found her own club, Sporting Fémina Club de Liège and became the president of the club. Next to athletics, this club was also active in basketball.

Athletics
Paques started with athletics in 1921, during the early era of women's athletics in 1921. In 1924 she became Belgian champion in the discus throw and set a new Belgian record. She again became national champion in the discus throw in 1931 and 1936. In the years between she was seven times runner-up and finished third in 1932. Next to discus throw, she won also medals at the national championships in the javelin throw and shot put.

Paques represented Belgium at many international competitions. One of the first times was at the 1924 France–Belgium women's athletics match in Douai, France where she finished fourth in the discus throw. Two years later she was again selected for the 1926 France–Belgium women's athletics match, and finsished the same year second in the discus throw at the 1926 Brussels Femina Club international women's athletics meeting behind the French Lucie Petit. Against the Netherlands she finished in the discus throw third at the 1928 Belgium–Netherlands women's athletics competition and also at the 1929 Netherlands–Belgium women's athletics competition.

Basketball
As a basketball player she was a member of the national team. She played at the international match against France in 1934.

With her club she won at the Belgian Women's Basketball League five times the national title between 1936 and 1942.

References

Category:1903 births
Category:1996 deaths
Category:Belgian athletes
Category:Shot putters
Category:Belgian discus throwers
Category:Javelin throwers
Category:Belgian basketball players
Category:Sportspeople from Liège