Mehdi Baala

Mehdi Baala

Medal record
Men’s athletics
Competitor for France
Olympic 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 17 August 1978 in Strasbourg) is a French middle-distance athlete competing mainly at 1500 metres. Baala has won numerous major medals, including two European titles. 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 metres. At Osaka in 2007, he finished first in his heat but was disqualified at the semi-finals for causing the fall of two other athletes.

Baala finished fourth at 1500 metres in the 2000 Olympics. In 2008, at the Beijing Olympics, Baala was awarded the bronze medal in the 1500 metres. He initially finished in fourth place once again, but initial winner Rashid Ramzi was stripped of his gold medal when found to be guilty of doping and Baala was elevated to receive the bronze medal.

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing France
1996	World Junior Championships	Sydney, Australia	33rd (h)	1500 m	4:21.48
1997	European Junior Championships	Ljubljana, Slovenia	7th	1500 m	3:49.51
1999	European U23 Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	1500 m	3:45.41
2000	European Indoor Championships	Ghent, Belgium	3rd	1500 m	3:42.27
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	4th	1500 m	3:34.14
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	12th	1500 m	3:55.36
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	1st	1500 m	3:45.25
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	2nd	1500 m	3:32.31
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	30th (h)	1500 m	3:46.06
2005	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	6th	800 m	1:45.32
			19th (sf)	1500 m	3:41.34
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	1500 m	3:39.02
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	24th (sf)	1500 m	DQ
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	2nd	1500 m	3:34.16
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	7th	1500 m	3:36.99
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	9th	1500 m	3:37.46

References

• IAAF profile for Mehdi Baala