Personal information | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | French | |||||||||||
Born | Évreux, France | 20 April 1913|||||||||||
Died | 24 February 1993[1] | (aged 79)|||||||||||
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||
Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) | |||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event | 5000 metres | |||||||||||
Club | Évreux AC | |||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
Personal best | 5000 m – 14:36.8 (1934) [2] [3] | |||||||||||
Medal record
|
Roger Rochard (20 April 1913 – 24 February 1993) was a French long-distance runner. He was the first French track and field athlete to become a European champion, winning the 5000 metres race at the 1934 European Athletics Championships in Turin, Italy.
As an 18-year-old, Rochard surprisingly won the 5000 m in the 1931 national dual meet between France and Britain, running 15:11.8. [4] Later that summer, he also won in a dual meet against Germany, this time running 15:03.6. [5] His best time that year was 15:01.6, which he ran in Paris on 25 October, [3] but in that race he was defeated by Poland's Janusz Kusociński, who went on to win Olympic gold at 10,000 metres. [6]
In 1932 Rochard broke 15 minutes for the first time, running 14:56.8; [3] [7] he was selected for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he qualified for the final but did not finish it. [2] In 1933 Rochard improved to 14:46.5 in a dual meet against Finland, only narrowly losing to Finland's Olympic medalist Lasse Virtanen. [7]
At the 1934 European Championships in Turin Rochard was up against Kusociński, Virtanen and Ilmari Salminen, but outkicked them all and won gold by a clear 4.4 second margin. [7] [8] His winning time, 14:36.8, was his personal best; he only missed out on the French record, set by Jean Bouin in his duel against Hannes Kolehmainen at the 1912 Summer Olympics, by one-tenth of a second. [7] Rochard was the first French athlete to win gold at the European Athletics Championships, [9] and the only one to do so in the inaugural 1934 meet. [10]
Rochard returned to the Olympics in Berlin in 1936; he again took part in the 5000 m, but was eliminated in the heats. [2] He attempted to defend his European title at the 1938 Championships in Paris, but only placed eighth. [10]
Personal information | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | French | |||||||||||
Born | Évreux, France | 20 April 1913|||||||||||
Died | 24 February 1993[1] | (aged 79)|||||||||||
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||
Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) | |||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event | 5000 metres | |||||||||||
Club | Évreux AC | |||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
Personal best | 5000 m – 14:36.8 (1934) [2] [3] | |||||||||||
Medal record
|
Roger Rochard (20 April 1913 – 24 February 1993) was a French long-distance runner. He was the first French track and field athlete to become a European champion, winning the 5000 metres race at the 1934 European Athletics Championships in Turin, Italy.
As an 18-year-old, Rochard surprisingly won the 5000 m in the 1931 national dual meet between France and Britain, running 15:11.8. [4] Later that summer, he also won in a dual meet against Germany, this time running 15:03.6. [5] His best time that year was 15:01.6, which he ran in Paris on 25 October, [3] but in that race he was defeated by Poland's Janusz Kusociński, who went on to win Olympic gold at 10,000 metres. [6]
In 1932 Rochard broke 15 minutes for the first time, running 14:56.8; [3] [7] he was selected for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he qualified for the final but did not finish it. [2] In 1933 Rochard improved to 14:46.5 in a dual meet against Finland, only narrowly losing to Finland's Olympic medalist Lasse Virtanen. [7]
At the 1934 European Championships in Turin Rochard was up against Kusociński, Virtanen and Ilmari Salminen, but outkicked them all and won gold by a clear 4.4 second margin. [7] [8] His winning time, 14:36.8, was his personal best; he only missed out on the French record, set by Jean Bouin in his duel against Hannes Kolehmainen at the 1912 Summer Olympics, by one-tenth of a second. [7] Rochard was the first French athlete to win gold at the European Athletics Championships, [9] and the only one to do so in the inaugural 1934 meet. [10]
Rochard returned to the Olympics in Berlin in 1936; he again took part in the 5000 m, but was eliminated in the heats. [2] He attempted to defend his European title at the 1938 Championships in Paris, but only placed eighth. [10]