Prudent Raymond Joye (15 December 1913 – 1 November 1980) was a French

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specialised in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. He competed for France at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

and won gold at the

1938 European Athletics Championships The 2nd European Athletics Championships was a continental athletics competition for European athletes which was held in two places in 1938. The men's event took place in Paris, France between 3–5 September while the women's events were in Vie ...

. His personal best of 53 seconds was a French record from 1938 until 1946.

Biography

Born in

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

on 15 December 1913, he began competing at the elite level of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

in his early twenties and broke Jean Bouin's French record on 23 July 1936, running a time of 53.4 seconds.Debaye, Roger (1988).
Il y a cinquante ans, Prudent Joye était Champion d'Europe du 400 m haies
'. Revue Mensuelle FFA (September 1988). Retrieved on 2010-08-21. His first major international competition came soon after when he represented France at the

. He ran in the heats of the men's 400 metres hurdles and was somewhat unfortunate to be eliminated as his time of 54.1 seconds was the sixth fastest of the round. However, his third-place finish in his heat meant he was not among the twelve athletes who progressed to the semi-finals. He also ran in the

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 ...

team, which was also eliminated in the heats stage. He was virtually unrivalled on the national stage, however, and he won every French 400 m hurdles title from 1936 to 1939.Dupuy, Gérard (19 July 2010)
Les finalistes des championnats de France
. Commission Documentation et Histoire/France FFA. Retrieved on 2010-08-21. Stade de Colombes 1924

Joye finished second behind Juul Bosmans in the 440 yards event at the

1938 AAA Championships The 1938 AAA Championships was the 1938 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 15 to 16 July 1938 at White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, ...

before competing in his second major competition of his career, which was the

and he demonstrated fine form in the weeks prior to the event by improving his French record to 53 seconds flat. The men's events were held at the

Stade Olympique de Colombes The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track, and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France. History ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and Joye was the only athlete to reach the top of the podium for the host nation. He saw off a challenge from Hungarian József Kovács to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

with a time of 53.1 seconds – just off his national record but a championship record nevertheless. He ran the anchor leg for the French 4×400 m relay team at the championships but he was beaten to the finish by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

runner Bertil von Wachenfeldt, just missing out on a medal by finishing fourth.Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Fields Athletics, Berlin 1999 He was captured by German soldiers in 1940 and imprisoned in an

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

camp. He broke free soon after and joined a group of freedom fighters in the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

, looking to the overturn of the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

. He returned to the athletics scene and continued his national success, winning in 1941 and 1943, although Henri Maignan took the title in 1942. He gradually moved towards training other athletes and he received his final selection for the national team in 1945, the year that France returned to international competition. After retiring from athletics, he became a certified

kinesiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease prevention, ...

through the Faculté de Médecine and moved to practice in

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Yves Cros who ran 52.6 seconds. He died on 5 November 1980, leaving behind a wife and five children, and his funeral was held at the Saint-Laurent church of Orléans.

Competition record

References

;General *
Prudent Joye Biography
Sports-reference. Retrieved on 2010-08-21. ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Joye, Prudent 1913 births 1980 deaths French male hurdlers Sportspeople from Roubaix Athletes from Nord (French department) Olympic athletes for France Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists French Resistance members French military personnel of World War II French prisoners of war in World War II French escapees Escapees from German detention 20th-century French sportsmen