Rhadi Ben Abdesselam

Rhadi Ben Abdesselam, born on February twenty-eighth, nineteen twenty-nine, was a distinguished Moroccan long-distance runner who made his mark in the world of athletics. He showcased his exceptional talent at the 1960 Olympics, competing in both the marathon and the 10,000 meters events, where he demonstrated remarkable endurance and skill.

In addition to his Olympic appearances, Ben Abdesselam participated in the International Cross Country Championships from nineteen fifty-eight to nineteen sixty-three. His most notable achievement came in March nineteen sixty, when he and Belgium's Gaston Roelants broke away from the pack, leading to Ben Abdesselam becoming the first African athlete to win the individual gold medal in the event, finishing ahead of Roelants by a significant forty yards.

During the Olympic Games in Rome, on September eighth, nineteen sixty, he finished fourteenth in the finals of the 10,000 meters with a time of twenty-nine minutes and thirty-two seconds, trailing the winner, Pyotr Bolotnikov of the Soviet Union, by nearly a minute. Just two days later, he competed in the marathon, where he set a blistering pace alongside Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, who would go on to break the world record.

The two athletes dominated the race, leaving the rest of the competitors behind by the twenty-five-kilometer mark. In a thrilling finish, Ben Abdesselam secured second place with a time of two hours, fifteen minutes, and forty-one point six seconds, just twenty-five point four seconds behind Bikila, whose record-breaking time was a mere eight-tenths of a second faster than Sergei Popov's previous record.

Interestingly, Bikila had been warned about Ben Abdesselam's prowess, yet the latter wore his 10,000-meter competition number during the marathon, leaving Bikila unaware of the identity of his formidable competitor. This race remains notable for the smallest margin by which a world marathon record has ever been broken, highlighting the intense competition between these two remarkable athletes.