1. Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad was born on 15 March 1985 and is a retired French professional middle-distance runner of Algerian descent who mainly competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
11 Facts About Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad is the only man to win three Olympic steeplechase medals, claiming silver in 2008 and 2012 and bronze in 2016.
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad won two bronze medals at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 2011 and 2013.
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad ran in the 1500 metres event at the 2006 European Cup, where he finished eighth.
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad opened the 2009 season with an appearance in the 3000 metres event at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix, where he registered a personal best of 7:53.50.
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad secured a prominent 2009 IAAF Golden League race victory at the Meeting Areva in Paris with a time of 8:13.23.
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad then swept past both Gari and Mutai to finish second behind Kemboi.
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad beat the previous European record of 8:01.18 set in Berlin at the 2009 World Championships by his compatriot Bouabdellah Tahri.
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Right after the race, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad admitted that he was finding it hard to cope with the pressure.
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In early April 2015, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad underwent an operation on his right foot, which had been causing him pain, in a hospital in Qatar.
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Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad was not fined and did not apologize regarding the incident.