- Mehdi Baala
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Medal record 
Mehdi BaalaMen’s athletics Competitor for 
FranceOlympic Games Bronze 2008 Beijing 1500 metres World Championships Silver 2003 Paris 1500 m European Championships Gold 2006 Gothenburg 1500 m Gold 2002 Munich 1500 m Mehdi Baala (Arabic: مهدي بعلة) (born August 17, 1978 in Strasbourg) is a French middle-distance athlete competing mainly at 1500 metres. Baala has won numerous major medals, including two European titles.[1][2] Baala is considered to be the best French middle-distance runner of all time. He holds four French outdoor records (800m: 1.43.15, 1000m: 2.13.96, 1500m: 3.28.98 and 2000m: 4.53.12) and three French indoor records. However, he has not won a gold medal in Olympic Games or in IAAF World Championships in Athletics to date. He won silver at the 2003 World Championships in the 1500 meters. At Osaka in 2005, he finished first in his heat but was disqualified at the semi-finals for causing the fall of two other athletes.[3]
Baala finished fourth at 1500 metres in the 2000 Olympics. In 2008, at Beijing, Baala was awarded the bronze medal.
Achievements
- 2009 World Championships in Athletics - seventh place
- 2008 Olympic Games - fourth place (later upgraded to Bronze, after Gold medal winner tested positive for doping)
- 2007 World Championships in Athletics - disqualified semi finals
- 2006 European Championships in Athletics - gold medal
- 2005 World Championships in Athletics - sixth place (800 m)
- 2003 World Championships in Athletics - silver medal
- 2002 European Championships in Athletics - gold medal
- 2001 World Championships in Athletics - 12th place
- 2000 Olympic Games - fourth place
- 2000 European Indoor Athletics Championships - bronze medal
- 2008 Olympic Games - third place
- (results from 1500 m)
References
- ^ Day 3 Munich 2002 The European Championships section - Time-to-Run - EuroChamps information
- ^ Superb Baala defends 1500m title. BBC Sport. 9 August 2006
- ^ Osaka 2007 - News - Event report: Men’s 1500m semi-finals. IAAF.org. 27 August 2007
- IAAF profile for Mehdi Baala
European Champions in Men's 1500 m 1934: Luigi Beccali (ITA) • 1938: Sydney Wooderson (GBR) • 1946: Lennart Strand (SWE) • 1950: Wim Slijkhuis (NED) • 1954: Roger Bannister (GBR) • 1958: Brian Hewson (GBR) • 1962: Michel Jazy (FRA) • 1966: Bodo Tümmler (FRG) • 1969: John Whetton (GBR) • 1971: Francesco Arese (ITA) • 1974: Klaus-Peter Justus (GDR) • 1978: Steve Ovett (GBR) • 1982: Steve Cram (GBR) • 1986: Steve Cram (GBR) • 1990: Jens-Peter Herold (GDR) • 1994: Fermín Cacho (ESP) • 1998: Reyes Estévez (ESP) • 2002: Mehdi Baala (FRA) • 2006: Mehdi Baala (FRA) • 2010: Arturo Casado (ESP)
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- French middle distance runners
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of France
- Olympic bronze medalists for France
- French people of Algerian descent
- People from Strasbourg
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- French athletics biography stubs
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