Kipchoge Hezekiah Keino is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete. He was the chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee (KOC) until 29 September 2017. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. In 2000, he became an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2012, he was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame.
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder of the outdoor 1500 metres, mile, and 2000 metres events. He also held indoor world records for the mile and 1500 metres until 2019, and is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to earn a gold medal in both the 1500 metres and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games. El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and is also viewed as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Saïd Aouita is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He is the only athlete in history to have won a medal in each of the 800 meters and 5000 meters at the Olympic games. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as the 3000 meters at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is a former world record holder over 1500 metres (3:29.46), 2000 m (4:50.80), 3000 m (7:29.45), and twice at 5000 m. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
Sonia O'Sullivan is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.
Alistair Ian Cragg is an international track and field athlete.
Michel Jazy is a French former middle-distance runner and long-distance runner. He won the 1500 metres silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, as well as two golds and one silver at the European Championships. He set nine world records in the mile (once), 2000 metres (twice) and 3000 metres (twice), the two miles (twice) and the 4×1500 metres relay (twice).
Lidia Chojecka-Leandro is a retired Polish middle- and long-distance runner who mainly competed in the 1500 metres and 3000 metres. She won bronze medals in the 1500 m at the 1997 and 1999 World Indoor Championships, and for the 3000 m at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. Chojecka is a six-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 1500 m and 3000 m events, earning three golds and three silvers. She took the double at the 2007 European Indoor Championships, becoming the first runner, male or female, to win both events at the same championships. She had been one of the most consistent middle distance runners in Europe throughout the 1990s, and finished fifth and sixth in back-to-back Olympic 1500 m finals in 2000 and 2004.
Augustine Kiprono Choge is a Kenyan middle distance and long distance runner.
Joanne Marie Pavey MBE is a British long-distance runner representing Europe, Great Britain and England in a career notable for its longevity, range and consistency. A World, European and Commonwealth medallist, Pavey won her only senior title when she claimed the 10,000 m gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich, ten months after giving birth to her second child, to become the oldest female European champion in history at the age of 40 years and 325 days.
Adrian Blincoe is a New Zealand middle-distance runner. In July 2008 he set the New Zealand record in the 5000m, running 13:10.19.
Silvia Weissteiner is an Italian long-distance runner.
Sándor Iharos was a Hungarian long-distance runner. Though unsuccessful in major competitions, Iharos ran world records over multiple distances and is one of only two athletes to have held outdoor world records over 1500 metres, 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. Iharos was one of the star pupils of the famous coach Mihály Iglói.
Elena Romagnolo is an Italian steeplechaser, middle and long-distance runner. She is the national record holder in the 3000 metres steeplechase, but now competes mainly in the 5000 metres.
Jessica Warner-Judd is an English middle- and long-distance runner. She won two individual medals in the Under-20 and U23 races at the European Cross Country Championships and a gold medal for the 5000 metres at the 2019 Universiade.
Henrik Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian middle-distance runner who competes mainly in the 1500 metres. He represented Norway at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. His younger brothers, Filip Ingebrigtsen and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, are also middle-distance runners, the latter of which won the 1500m gold at the 2020 games.
Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal is a Norwegian middle-, long-distance and steeplechase runner. She won bronze medals for the 10,000 metres at the 2016 European Championships, and in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2018 European Championships. Grøvdal earned nine individual medals at the European Cross Country Championships, an unsurpassed record by a female athlete in the meet history.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second woman to complete an Olympic distance double.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic and European record. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Ingebrigtsen took silver in the 1500 m and a gold for the 5000 metres. He is a four-time European champion, winning the 1500 m/5000 m double in 2018 and 2022. His 1500 m victory in 2018 achieved at the age of 17 made him the second youngest ever individual senior European track and field champion, while his double was the first in history. Indoors, he is 2022 World Indoor Championship 1500 m silver medallist and a six-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 1500/3000 metres events, including five golds and the 'double-double' from 2021 and 2023. Ingebrigtsen won six successive titles at the European Cross Country Championships. He is the current world indoor record holder for the 1500 m, which he set on 17 February 2022 in Liévin, France.
Claude Nicolas is a French middle-distance runner. He competed in the men's 1500 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Nicolas is a former world record holder in the 4 × 1500 metres relay, with 14:49.0 minutes in June 1965. His teammates were Michel Jazy, Gérard Vervoort and Jean Wadoux.
Gérard Vervoort is a retired French runner.
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