Roger Rochard

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.

Roger Rochard
Roger Rochard in 1931
Personal information
NationalityFrench
Born(1913-04-20)20 April 1913
Évreux, France
Died24 February 1993(1993-02-24) (aged 79)[1]
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)5000 metres
ClubÉvreux AC
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)5000 m – 14:36.8 (1934)[2][3]
Medal record
Representing  France
European Championship
1934 Turin5000 m

Career

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]

References
  1. Dupuy, Gérard (20 May 2017). "Les Jeux Olympiques" (PDF). French Athletics Federation. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  2. Roger Rochard. sports-reference.com
  3. "Roger Rochard". Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  4. "Inglise-Prantsuse kergejõustiku maavõistlus 67:53". Eesti Spordileht (in Estonian). 14 August 1931. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  5. "Saksa võitis Prantsuse 89:62". Eesti Spordileht (in Estonian). 8 September 1931. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  6. "Kusocinsky võit Pariisis". Eesti Spordileht (in Estonian). 10 November 1931. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  7. Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
  8. "Osa 1, Torino 1934: Järvisestä historiallinen mestari" (in Finnish). Yleisurheilun Kuvalehti. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  9. Dupuy, Gérard (12 August 2014). "Zurich 2014... et avant ?" (in French). Commission de la Documentation et de l'Histoire. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  10. Jalava, Mirko (2014). "European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014: Statistics Handbook" (PDF). European Athletics. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
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