Paulette Veste

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexFemale
Full namePaulette•Veste (-Syfrett, -Gibbens)
Used namePaulette•Veste
Born24 February 1928 in Lespesses, Pas-de-Calais (FRA)
Measurements172 cm
AffiliationsLa Laonnaise/USC Laon
NOC France

Biography

Paulette Veste took up field athletics during World War II, at the age of 12, and within three years had set an unofficial French record in the shot put. Her career got its real start after World War II, and she earned six national titles between 1948 and 1953: three in the discus (1948, 1951, 1952) and three in the shot put (1949, 1952, 1953). Her first major international competition was the 1948 London Olympics, where she was 10th in the discus and just missed the podium in fourth in the shot put, in events won by her teammate and friend Micheline Ostermeyer. Veste also set the French record in the discus to 40.95 meters that year. Four years later, at the 1952 Helsinki Games, she was 9th and 16th in the shot put and discus respectively. In-between, she placed sixth in the discus at the 1950 European Championships. She competed for one more year after Helsinki, and then married in 1954 and moved to Florida. She would not return to France for over fifty years.

Personal Bests: SP – 13.26 (1952); DT – 43.24 (1951).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1948 Summer Olympics Athletics FRA Paulette Veste
Shot Put, Women (Olympic) 4
Discus Throw, Women (Olympic) 10
1952 Summer Olympics Athletics FRA Paulette Veste
Shot Put, Women (Olympic) 9
Discus Throw, Women (Olympic) 16

Errata

A Paulette Veste, born February 2, 1928, died March 1, 2014, but this was not the Olympian.