Michel Bernard (31 December 1931 – 14 February 2019) was a French middle- and long-distance runner. He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics in the 1500 m and 5000 m and finished in seventh place in all events. During his career he won nine national titles, in the 1500 m (1955 and 1959), 5000 m (1958–1960 and 1962) and 10000 m (1961, 1964 and 1965). Between 1985 and 1987 he was president of the

Fédération française d'athlétisme The French Athletics Federation (, FFA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in France. History FFA is the heir to the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), founded November 20, 1887. In 1912, a French del ...

Biography

Bernard was born to Pierre Bernard, a blacksmith; his mother ran a hardware shop. His father died on the front in World War II, and his mother raised him alone, together with his younger sister. At sixteen, Bernard started working at a factory. Next year he became involved with running, and in 1949 and 1950 became junior champion of France. He lost his form during 18 months of the military service, but had recovered it by 1954. In 1955, he won his first senior national title and was selected for the national team, but not for the 1956 Olympics. Nationally, Bernard was losing to

Michel Jazy Michel Jazy (13 June 1936 – 1 February 2024) was a 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 t ...

, who was a stronger runner and had better conditions for training, whereas Bernard had to take unpaid leaves from work to prepare for major competitions. Bernard won the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title in the 1 mile event at the

1961 AAA Championships The 1961 AAA Championships was the 1961 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 14 to 15 July 1961 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

. In 1960, Bernard met Chantal Churn, also a track athlete. They married on 27 November 1961 and later had a son, Pierre-Michel (born in 1963), and daughters Sandrine (born 1964) and Cathy (born 1965). After retiring from competitions Bernard became involved with the national athletics federation, serving as its president between 1985 and 1987. He also became interested in local politics, and founded in 2001 the association ''Anzin pour tous''.

Personal bests

*1500 m – 3:38.7 (1963) *5000 m – 13:40.0 (1971)

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Michel 1931 births 2019 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for France French male middle-distance runners French Athletics Championships winners 20th-century French sportsmen