Born on 5 October 1923 in Aigues-Vives, Hérault, Cros won his first French 400 m hurdles title in 1946, which earned him a selection for the French team at the European Athletics Championships in Oslo, where he finished fourth in the 400 m hurdles final with a time of 52.6 seconds, and also won the gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay alongside Robert Chef d'Hôtel, Jacques Lunis, and Bernard Santona, who achieved a combined time of 3 minutes and 14.4 seconds.[1][2] After successfully defending his national title in 1947, 1948, and 1949, he competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he finished fifth in the 400 m hurdles.[1][2][3][4]
Licensed to Stade Français, his personal best in the 400-meter hurdles is 52.5 seconds, which he set in 1948.[1][2]
Shortly after earning his coaching diplomas in the late 1940s, Cros was recruited by USM Malakoff, first as a player-coach, then exclusively as a coach,[4] a position that he held for three decades, from 1949 until 1979, when he was replaced by Yvon Fercoq, the team captain.[5][6][7][8] He was noted for successfully mixing young talent with veteran players, leading his team to several triumphs in the Paris Cup, winning the 1965–66 DH unbeaten, which earned them a place in the third division, reaching the Round of 32 of the Coupe de France on two occasions, and even playing in Ligue 2 for one season in 1975–76.[4][8] Additionally, under his leadership, USMM structured itself and established its own football academy.[4]
In 1966, the weekly magazine France Football published an article about the USMM in its May 31 edition entitled "Cros and Malakoff a prodigious rise", and a few years later, in 1973, Cros was named the best amateur coach in France by that same magazine.[7]
