 He joined the French Army and rose to the rank of Sergeant.After an impressive silver medal at the Championnats de France d'athlétisme, a competition in which he would achieve 19 medals including 13 golds over the next 12 years, Noël was selected for the French Olympic discus team for the 1928 Games in Amsterdam.Though he finished some way off the medal positions he went on to break the French discus record in the trials for the 1932 Summer Olympics, throwing 49.44 m. He travelled to the Games in Los Angeles, California and led out the team in the opening ceremony as the French flag bearer.