Boughera El-Ouafi

Boughera El- Ouafi (* October 15, 1898 in Ouled Djellal, † October 18, 1959 in St. Denis ) was an Algerian athlete. In 1928 he won at the Olympics for France the gold medal in the marathon.

El- Ouafi was born near the town of Ouled Djellal. There he joined the French military regiment, which secured the colonial rule of France in Algeria. One of his superior officers recognized El- Ouafis sporting talent and sent him to a military sports competition in France. El- Ouafi left there a good impression, and he was allowed to take part in the qualifiers for the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924.

Boughera El- Ouafi after qualifying and in his first Olympic marathon, he finished seventh. This good result enabled him to prepare better for the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. In the Olympic race he stayed for three quarters of the distance behind the leading runners. Only five kilometers from the finish he overtook his competitors and finally crossed the finish line first, 26 seconds ahead of the runner- Manuel Plaza from Chile.

After his surprising victory El- Ouafi toured the United States. Due to the revenue which it scoring, but he lost his amateur status and could not participate in sports competitions. El- Ouafi opened a café in Paris and came largely from the perspective of the public. Only when Alain Mimoun another Algerians won the marathon at the Olympic Games in 1956, a reporter made the search for El- Ouafi and found him again impoverished.

El- Ouafi was murdered three days after his 61st birthday by members of the Algerian liberation movement FLN after he had refused to support them in their struggle.