Anne-Marie Colchen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Anne-Marie Colchen

Colchen (top left) with the 1953 French women's basketball squad
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  France
European Championships
Gold	1946 Oslo	High jump
Silver	1946 Oslo	4×100 m relay
Women's basketball
FIBA World Cup
Bronze	1953 Santiago	{{{3}}}

Anne-Marie Colchen-Maillet (born December 8, 1925 – died January 26, 2017) was a talented French athlete. She was amazing at both track and field and women's basketball. Anne-Marie made history as France's first high jump champion at the 1946 European Athletics Championships. She even held the French record for high jump for ten years! She also competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics. In basketball, she was the top scorer at the 1953 FIBA World Championship for Women. She helped France win third place in that competition. She played for the French national basketball team in many European Championships.

Anne-Marie Colchen's Sports Career

Anne-Marie was born in Le Havre, France. She joined a local sports club called the Association Sportive Augustin Normand (ASAN). Anne-Marie was quite tall for her time, standing at 1.82 meters (about 6 feet). This height helped her become naturally good at high jump and basketball.

Athletics Achievements

Anne-Marie started gaining attention as a high jumper in the mid-1940s. She quickly became one of the world's top athletes. In 1946, she won a gold medal at the 1946 European Athletics Championships. She jumped 1.60 meters, beating Aleksandra Chudina from the Soviet Union. As of 2015, Anne-Marie is still the only French woman to win a European high jump title.

She also won a silver medal in the 4×100 metres relay at the same championships. She ran with her teammates Léa Caurla, Claire Brésolles, and Monique Drilhon. They finished second to a strong Dutch team.

Anne-Marie also competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She finished 14th in the high jump. In 1950, she tried to win her European title again at the 1950 European Athletics Championships. She finished sixth with a jump of 1.50 meters.

During her career, Anne-Marie won the French national high jump championship four times. She won in 1946, 1948, 1949, and 1950. In 1949, she set a new French record for the high jump. Her best jump was 1.63 meters. This record stood for ten years! She represented France in athletics eleven times between 1946 and 1955.

Basketball Achievements

Even though Anne-Marie was a great high jumper, it took a bit longer for her to reach the top in basketball. She played as a center. She first played for the French basketball team in February 1946.

In her first big tournament, the 1950 FIBA European Women's Basketball Championship, she was France's top scorer in several games. She scored 25 points against Italy in one game. The team finished fourth overall. Anne-Marie scored 87 points in total, making her the tournament's leading scorer! She played again in the 1952 European Championship. France finished seventh that year.

Anne-Marie reached the peak of her basketball career at the 1953 FIBA World Championship for Women. This was the first time a world tournament for women's basketball was held. Anne-Marie was by far the top scorer in the competition. She averaged 19.2 points per game and scored a total of 115 points. This was over thirty points more than the next best player! She was France's top scorer in four of their six games. France won the bronze medal, finishing third behind the host country, Chile, and the American winners.

She played in two more European Championships after her world medal. In the 1954 event, France qualified for the final round. However, they lost all five games there and finished sixth. She returned for the 1956 edition. Anne-Marie was France's top scorer in their first game. She and Édith Tavert-Kloechner led France to wins over Germany and Romania. France was eliminated after heavy losses in the semi-round.

During her international basketball career, Anne-Marie played 66 games for France. She scored 455 points in total. She even managed to score a record high of 30 points in a single game! Her last international game was against Austria in 1956.

Later Life and Honors

After she stopped competing, Anne-Marie became a coach. In 2002, she was added to the Gloire du sport. This is like the French national sports hall of fame. She was only the third basketball player and the first woman basketball player to be honored this way. In 2005, she was also admitted to the Académie du Basket.

In 2009, she received a special honor called Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. This award recognized her amazing achievements and her 65 years of dedication to sports in France. She also received other awards, like the Médaille d'or de l'Education Physique (1945) and the Palme académique des Chevaliers du Mérite sportif.

National Titles

• French Athletics Championships
  • High jump: 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950
• French Basketball Championships
  • Club: 1950, 1951, 1952

International Competitions

Athletics

Basketball

See Also

In Spanish: Anne-Marie Colchen para niños

• List of European Athletics Championships medalists (women)