| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1950-05-23)23 May 1950 | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft4+1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 125 kg (276 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
| Event(s) | Hammer throw Weight throw | |||||||||||
| Partner | Isabelle Accambray | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personalbest | Hammer throw: 73.46 m (1976) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Jacques Accambray (born 23 May 1950) is a French formertrack and field athlete.
A talented age group thrower, Accambray set aworld junior record in men'shammer throw in 1969. During the early 1970s he studied atKent State University inOhio, winningNCAAchampionship titles in both hammer throw andweight throw. He represented France as a hammer thrower at the1972 and1976Summer Olympics, as well as at theEuropean Championships of 1969, 1971, 1974 and 1978. From 1985 to 1996 he was President of the French American Football Federation.
Accambray was born inDivion,Pas-de-Calais on 23 May 1950.[1] He developed rapidly as a hammer thrower; in June 1968 he threw 64.40 m in a dual meet against West Germany, setting a new Frenchjunior record.[2][3] On 31 May 1969 he threw 68.24 m in Sochaux, breaking the world junior mark; the throw placed him 21st in the world that year among throwers of any age.[4][5] Accambray was selected to represent France at the1969 European Athletics Championships inAthens, but only managed 60.76 m and was eliminated in the qualification round.[6] He won his first French national championship title that summer, repeating as champion the following year.[7]
For the next four years Accambray studied atKent State University in Ohio, continuing his throwing career there. Accambray and his Kent State teammateAl Schoterman were the top collegiate heavy throwers of the early 1970s; in 1971, Accambray placed second to Schoterman in the 35 lbweight throw at theDivision I indoor championships and won the hammer throw, with Schoterman taking second, in theoutdoor meet;[8][9] Accambray's winning mark of 227 ft 10 in (69.44 m) was a new collegiate and meeting record.[9][10]
Accambray and Schoterman reversed roles in 1972, with Accambray winning the NCAA weight throw title and Schoterman the hammer throw; again, they claimed the top two in both events.[8][9] Accambray's winning mark in the weight throw, 71 ft 3 in (21.71 m), broke Schoterman's meeting record from the previous year.[8] At the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich Accambray cleared the qualification with a throw of 68.00 m, but in thefinal he only managed 65.06 m and placed 19th.[1] With Schoterman no longer in college, Accambray regained the NCAA hammer title in 1973.[9]
Accambray won his second collegiate indoor weight throw title in 1974, throwing 71 ft 10+3⁄4 in (21.91 m);[11] the mark was a new collegiate and meeting record,[12] and remained Kent State record untilMatthias Tayala broke it in 2014.[13] Accambray also won the 1974United States weight throw championship, defeating four-time defending championGeorge Frenn.[14] In his final year at Kent State, he joined the university'sAmerican football team as adefensive tackle;[15] after his graduation in 1974 he was signed by theMontreal Alouettes of theCanadian Football League,[16] but although he visited the Alouettes' training and selection camp he never played a game for them.[15][17]
Accambray became French hammer throw champion for a third time in 1975, throwing a meeting record 69.76 m.[7] He won bronze with 65.16 m at the1975 Mediterranean Games.[18] Accambray achieved his best results in 1976, winning his fourth French title with 69.86 m; at the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal he threw 70.44 m for ninth place, his best placing in a major international meet.[1][6][7] He set his final personal best (andFrench record), 73.46 m, inAntony on 23 June 1976.[5][6] At the1978 European Championships inPrague Accambray was again eliminated in the qualification round.[6] He won his fifth and final French national title in 1979.[7]
From 1985 to 1996 he was President of the Fédération Française de Football Américain (FFFA), France's national federation ofAmerican football.[15]
Accambray's wife, Isabelle Accambray (née Reynaud), was French national champion in women'sdiscus throw from 1980 to 1982.[1][7] Handball internationalWilliam Accambray is their son.[19]
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