Claude Bénard, who specialized in the high jump, made his international athletics début for France in 1947. The following year, he was selected to represented his country in that event at the 1948 London Olympics, where he was eliminated in the qualifying round. He reached the peak of his career at the 1950 European Championships, where he won a bronze medal in the high jump behind Alan Paterson of Great Britain and Sweden’s Arne Åhman. He was 18th in his event at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and continued to compete internationally through 1954 and domestically through 1958, at which point he retired from active competition.

Personal Best: HJ – 1.96 (1950).