# Silvio Cator's Olympic Silver (1928)

URL: https://allhistories.com/haiti/timeline/1928-silvio-cator-s-olympic-silver
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Themes: main-event

Haiti had first competed at the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, when its rifle team won a bronze medal in a team event. Silvio Cator, born in Cavaillon in 1900, was a footballer and all-round athlete who became the country's finest track and field competitor, despite training in conditions far removed from those of European and American athletes. At the Amsterdam Olympics, on 31 July 1928, Cator took the silver medal in the long jump with a leap of 7.58 metres, behind Ed Hamm of the United States. It was the first individual Olympic medal won by a Haitian. On 9 September 1928, at a meeting in Paris, he jumped 7.93 metres, a new world record and the first jump in history close to eight metres. He thus became the first black athlete from the Caribbean to hold a world record in an Olympic event. Cator's success, coming in the middle of the American occupation, was celebrated in Haiti as a source of national pride. He later served as mayor of Port-au-Prince, and the national stadium, the Stade Sylvio Cator, is named in his honour. His silver remained Haiti's only individual Olympic medal for decades. At this point in the timeline (31 July 1928), the President of Haiti was Louis Borno (15 May 1922 – 15 May 1930).

## Why it matters
Cator's medal and world record were a rare international triumph for Haiti during the occupation and remain landmarks of Haitian sport.

Ruler at the Time: [Louis Borno](https://allhistories.com/haiti/rulers/louis-borno)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Silvio Cator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Cator)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Silvio Cator](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Silvio+Cator)
- [Wikipedia — The Us Occupation (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti)