Alain Mimoun

Alain Mimoun

Mimoun in 2001
Personal information
Birth name	Ali Mimoun Ould Kacha
Nationality	French
Born	(1921-01-01)1 January 1921 Telagh, Oran department, French Algeria, France
Died	27 June 2013(2013-06-27) (aged 92) Saint-Mandé, France
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	56 kg (123 lb)
Sport
Sport	long-distance running
Event(s)	5,000 metres, 10,000 metres, marathon and cross-country running
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  France Olympic Games 1956 Melbourne Marathon 1948 London 10,000 m 1952 Helsinki 5,000 m 1952 Helsinki 10,000 m International Cross Country Championships 1946 Ayr Team Race 1947 Paris Team Race 1949 Dublin Individual Race 1949 Dublin Team Race 1950 Brussels Team Race 1952 Hamilton Individual Race 1952 Hamilton Team Race 1954 Birmingham Individual Race 1956 Belfast Individual Race 1956 Belfast Team Race 1950 Brussels Individual Race 1958 Cardiff Individual Race European Athletics Championships 1950 Brussels 5,000 m 1950 Brussels 10,000 m Mediterranean Games 1951 Alexandria 5,000 m 1951 Alexandria 10,000 m 1955 Barcelona 5,000 m 1955 Barcelona 10,000 m

Alain Mimoun, born Ali Mimoun Ould Kacha (1 January 1921 – 27 June 2013), was a French^[1][2][3][4] long-distance runner who competed in track events, cross-country running and the marathon. He was the 1956 Olympic champion in the marathon. He is the most bemedalled French athletics sportsperson in history. In 1999, readers of the French athletics magazine Athlétisme Magazine voted him as the “French Athlete of the 20th Century”.^[5]

On the track Mimoun won three Olympic silver medals, finishing second behind Emil Zátopek in the 10,000 metres final in 1948 and again second behind him in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres finals in 1952. He was also the silver medallist in both events behind Zátopek at the 1950 European Athletics Championships. From 1949 to 1958, he won four individual gold medals and two individual silver medals at the International Cross Country Championships. He was a four-time gold medallist at the Mediterranean Games, completing the 5,000 m/10,000 m double in both 1951 and 1955.

Born in Algeria,^[6][7][8] Mimoun fought military battles for France and the Western Allies during World War II. He settled in metropolitan France shortly after leaving the French army. Overall, he represented France in four consecutive Olympic Games from 1948 to 1960. He competed internationally for France on 86 occasions. From 1947 to 1966, he won a total of 29 senior titles in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m, marathon and cross-country events of the French national championships. Mimoun continued to run in his later life and set a number of veteran age-category records.