Rhadi Ben Abdesselam (; 28 February 1929 – 4 October 2000) was a Moroccan long-distance runner. He competed at the 1960 Olympics in the marathon and 10,000 meters events. He also ran in the

International Cross Country Championships The International Cross Country Championships was an annual international competition in cross- country running. It was created in 1903 by the International Cross Country Union (ICCU) and it marked the first time that an annual international ch ...

in 1958–1963. In March 1960, he and Belgium's

Gaston Roelants Gaston, Baron Roelants (born 5 February 1937), is a Belgian former elite steeplechaser and cross country runner. He won the 1962 European and 1964 Olympic titles in the 3000 m steeplechase and twice broke the world record. Biography Roelant ...

quickly broke away from the field, and he became the first African athlete to win the individual gold medal in that event, defeating Roelants by 40 yards. On September 8, 1960, he finished in 14th place in the finals-only 10,000 meters, in 29:32.0, almost a minute behind the winner, the Soviet Union's

Pyotr Bolotnikov Pyotr Grigoryevich Bolotnikov (; 8 March 1930 – 20 December 2013) was a Soviet Track and field athlete who competed mainly in long-distance running events.Great Russian Encyclopedia (2005), Moscow: Bolshaya Rossiyskaya Entsiklopediya Publisher, ...

, who broke the Olympic record for the event. Just two days later, Ben Abdesselam started the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. The blazing pace that he set for the first 20 kilometers, running with the barefoot

Abebe Bikila ''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila (; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He was the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winning his first gold medal at the 1960 S ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, provided the impetus for Bikila's eventual world record. The pair had dispatched the rest of the field by 25 kilometers, and they stayed stride-for-stride until the final 500 meters, with Ben Abdesselam finishing second in 2:15:41.6, 25.4 seconds behind Bikila, whose time of 2:15:16.2 was a mere 8/10ths of a second faster than Sergei Popov's record of 2:15:17.0, set in 1958. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is still the smallest margin by which a world marathon record has ever been broken. Ironically, Bikila had been advised to watch out for Ben Abdesselam, but the latter wore his 10,000-meter competition number in the marathon, so Bikila was unaware of the identity of his competitor. Popov finished fifth in Rome, two minutes behind New Zealand's

Barry Magee Arthur Barry Magee (born 6 February 1934) is a retired New Zealand long-distance runner. He won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1960 Olympics and in the 10,000 m event placed 26th at the 1960 and 23rd at the 1964 games.

, who took the bronze medal. Abebe Bikila 1960 Olympics

References

External links

* YouTube
Légende du Sport Marocain: Feu Abdeslam Radi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Abdesselam, Rhadi 1929 births 2000 deaths People from Errachidia Sportspeople from Drâa-Tafilalet Moroccan male long-distance runners Moroccan male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Morocco Olympic silver medalists for Morocco Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics International Cross Country Championships winners Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century Moroccan sportsmen