Joseph Guillemot

Joseph Guillemot ( born October 1, 1899 in Le Dorat, † March 9, 1975 in Paris) was a French athlete and 1920 Olympic champion in the 5000 meters at the Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp.

In World War I fighting, Joseph Guillemot his lungs lacerated hard by a mustard gas poisoning. Through an anomaly his heart was on the right side of his chest. Guillemot was an athlete of smaller physical size. He measured only 160 cm and weighed 54 kilos, but he possessed an extraordinary performance. He won in the military service, the regiment -Cross Championships, followed by his first French military title. In 1920 he won his first national championship over 5000 meters, which brought him to qualify for the Olympic Games.

In Antwerp, Paavo Nurmi was the darling of the masses. In the 5000 meter final Nurmi had planned its own strategy to tire the dangerous Sweden Eric Backman and Runar Falk in the first part of the race. After three rounds the Nurmi took the lead and increased the speed increasing. Only Guillemot could follow him. For half of the race Guillemot refused the lead still and Nurmi increasingly begins the courage to leave. On the last lap in the target curve Guillemot Nurmi überspurtet on the winger. Nurmi - completely demoralized - loses to finish another 4 seconds the outstanding winner Guillemot.

The final over 10000 meters began after a nearly three- hour long speech by King Albert. Guillemot had before the race much eaten. Fighting with stomach cramps and with too great racing shoes (his own shoes had been stolen from him ), Guillemot had to make do with silver.

After the Olympics, Guillemot won the 1922 Cross of Nations ( forerunner of today's World Cup) in single race and led France in the team competition in both 1922 and 1926 to victory. He won the French Championships over 5000 meters on three occasions, but missed the next Olympics because of dissensions between him and the French Athletics Federation.

He also held two world records: 2000 m ( 5.34,8 ) and 3000 m ( 8.42,2 ).

Guillemot, who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, died at age 75 in Paris.