Manuel Anatol Aristegi (8 May 1903 – 17 May 1990) was a naturalized French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and athlete.

Football career

Anatol was born in

Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...

, a town in the Basque Country of Spain. A defender, he played for three clubs in the country; hometown club

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

and

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. In 1929, Anatol ventured to France and joined

Racing Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French Association football, football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of ...

.Gilles Gauthey, ''Le football professionnel français'', Paris, 1961, p. 18. Éditée et diffusée par l'auteur. With Racing, he captained the club to the final of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

in his second season with the club. In the final, Racing were defeated 3–1 by

FC Sète FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pak ...

. Initially overlooked due to his Spanish roots (as was René Petit), Anatol was naturalised as a French citizen in 1929 and made his national team debut on 24 March 1929 in a 2–0 victory over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He made 15 more appearances with the team and scored his only goal on 23 March 1930 in a 3–3 draw with

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The goal was scored from out. He could not take part in the

1930 FIFA World Cup The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, ...

due to being unable to take the required time off work, and was not selected for the France squad

four years later ''Four Years Later'', originally titled ''Four Years'' is an eight-part Australian-Indian romance drama, premiering on SBS and SBS on Demand on 2 October 2024. It is created, co-written, and executive produced by Mithila Gupta, and stars Shah ...

Athletics career

Anatol was also a talented sprinter who won the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

events at the 1923 edition of the

Spanish Athletics Championships The Spanish Athletics Championships () is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA), which serves as the Spanish national championship for the sport. It is typically held as a two-day e ...

; however, as he had documentation as a French national (his father was from the

French Basque Country The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided ...

although Manuel had lived in Spain all his life up to that point) the wins were awarded to the runners-up instead, and remain as such in the records. He subsequently competed at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

under the name ''M. A. Aristegui'' which may have been an administrative error due to

Spanish naming customs Spanish names are the traditional way of identifying, and the official way of registering a person in Spain. They are composed of a given name (simple or composite) and two surnames (the first surname of each parent). Traditionally, the first ...

, or a subtle attempt by him to conceal his identity from either the athletics organisers or the management at his football club. He did not progress past the opening heats of the 400 metres event.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anatol, Manuel 1903 births 1990 deaths Sportspeople from Irun Footballers from Gipuzkoa Men's association football defenders French men's footballers France men's international footballers Spanish men's footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France French people of Spanish descent Sportspeople of Spanish descent Naturalized citizens of France Real Unión footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Racing Club de France Football players Montpellier HSC players Atlético Madrid footballers Ligue 1 players La Liga players Segunda División players Spanish male sprinters Olympic athletes for Spain Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes from the Basque Country (autonomous community) 20th-century French sportsmen 20th-century Spanish sportsmen