Michel Jazy
Michel Jazy in 1963
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| Personal information | |
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| Nationality | French |
| Born |
13 June 1936 Oignies, France |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb; 10 st 3 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | middle-distance running and long-distance running |
| Event(s) | 800m, 1500m, mile, 2000m, 3000m, 2 miles, 5000m, 4×1500m relay, cross-country |
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Medal record
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Michel Jazy (born 13 June 1936) is a former French middle-distance runner and long-distance runner. He won the 1500 metres silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, as well as two golds (in 1962 and 1966) and one silver (in 1966) at the European Championships. He set nine world records in the mile (once), 2000 metres (twice) and 3000 metres (twice), the two miles (twice) and the 4×1500 metres relay (twice).
Jazy was born into a poor coal-mining family from Poland. His grandfather, together with his wife and their daughter, emigrated from Poland to France after World War I. They settled in Oignies. Michel's grandfather worked as a coal miner in nearby Ostricourt. Michel's father was also a coal miner, whereas Michel's mother worked in a brewery in Lille. Michel was raised by his grandmother during much of his childhood. He was 12 years old when his father died of silicosis. When Michel was 14 years old, he, his mother (Marianne Jazy) and his older sister (Alfreda) settled in Paris. Marianne worked as a waitress in a café in Montmartre. Marianne remarried; her new husband, a truck driver, moved the family into a 10-by-12-foot, one-room apartment at Rue Rodier in Montmartre. Michel was passionate about football when he was a schoolboy. As a schoolboy, he would spend hours daily playing football. Michel left school at the age of 14 and became a uniformed doorman and elevator operator at a bridge club near the Arc de Triomphe. At 16 he became an apprentice in a neighborhood printshop.
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