Mahiedine Mekhissi

Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad

Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad in 2012
Personal information
Nationality	France
Born	(1985-03-15) 15 March 1985 (age 32) Reims, France
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb)
Sport
Sport	middle-distance running
Event(s)	1000 metres, 1500 metres, 3000 metres, 2000 metres steeplechase, 3000 metres steeplechase
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	1500 m outdoor: 3:33.12 (Tomblaine 2013) 2000 m steeplechase outdoor: 5:10.68 (Reims 2010) 3000 m steeplechase outdoor: 8:00.09 (Paris 2013)
Medal record Olympic Games 2008 Beijing 3000 m st. 2012 London 3000 m st. 2016 Rio de Janeiro 3000 m st. World Championships 2011 Daegu 3000 m st. 2013 Moscow 3000 m st. European Championships 2010 Barcelona 3000 m st. 2012 Helsinki 3000 m st. 2014 Zürich 1500 m 2016 Amsterdam 3000 m st. European Indoor Championships 2013 Gothenburg 1500 m Continental Cup 2010 Split 3000 m st. European U23 Championships 2007 Debrecen 3000 m st.

1500 m outdoor: 3:33.12 (Tomblaine 2013)
2000 m steeplechase outdoor: 5:10.68 (Reims 2010)

Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (born 15 March 1985) is a French middle-distance runner of Algerian descent who mainly competes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He has won medals in major international competitions such as the Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships and European Indoor Championships.

Mekhissi-Benabbad has gained notoriety for pushing the event's mascot after winning the 3000 meter steeplechase finals at the 2010 and 2012 European Championships.

Mekhissi-Benabbad made his first appearances as a junior athlete in 2004, running at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he was 61st in the junior race, and at the 2004 World Junior Championships where he was eliminated in the heats of the 3000 m steeplechase. He ran in the 1500 metres event at the 2006 European Cup, where he finished eighth. Mekhissi-Benabbad represented France at the 2006 IAAF World Cup, but only managed to finish eighth in the 1500 m event.

Mekhissi-Benabbad won the 3000 metres steeplechase gold medal at the 2007 European Athletics U23 Championships. He competed in his first major senior event later that year – the 2007 World Championships - where he was eliminated in the heats of the 3000 metres steeplechase competition.

Mekhissi-Benabbad made significant progress in 2008, knocking seconds off his personal best at the 2008 Olympics to win the Olympic 3000 metres steeplechase silver medal in a time of 8:10.49, only 15 hundredths of a second behind the gold medallist Brimin Kipruto. He became the first non-Kenyan in 24 years to finish first or second in the Olympic 3000 metres steeplechase event. Coincidentally, the last non-Kenyan to do so was a Frenchman—Joseph Mahmoud—who won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Mekhissi-Benabbad improved further at the 2008 Weltklasse Zürich meeting, finishing behind Paul Kipsiele Koech in second place in a personal best time of 8:08.95, making him the fourth fastest 3000 metres steeplechaser that year.