Colette Besson

Colette Besson ( born April 7, 1946 in Saint -Georges -de- Royan; † August 9, 2005 in La Rochelle ) was a French sprinter and Olympic gold medalist.

The hitherto relatively unknown French skier Colette Besson qualified surprising for participation in the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968 and won the 400 -meter run, the gold medal ahead of the favored British Lillian Board ( Silver) and the Russian Natalya Petschonkina (bronze).

At the European Championships in 1969, she won one silver each over 400 m (from her compatriot Nicole Duclos gossamer defeated ) and the 4 × 400 m relay, where she was defeated on the anchor leg, this time in the finish of Lillian Board. After that she could not win any other international medals more and ended her career in 1977. She died in 2005 at the consequences of a cancer suffering.