Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder of the outdoor 1500 meters, mile, and 2000 meters events. He also held indoor world records for the mile and 1500 meters 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 holds 7 of the fastest 9 times ever run in the 1500 meters and 7 of the 10 fastest in the mile. Given these achievements, El Guerrouj is considered by many to be the greatest middle-distance runner of all time.
Anders Aukland is a professional Norwegian cross-country skier who has won both Olympic and World Championship gold medals. He lives in Oslo.
Sir Murray Gordon Halberg is a New Zealand former middle distance runner who won the gold medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1960 Olympics. He also won gold medals in the 3 miles events at the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games. He has worked for the welfare of children with disabilities since he founded the Halberg Trust in 1963.
Saïd Aouita is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. 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. Aouita was one of the first globally known Arab sportspeople. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat is a Kenyan-American middle and long-distance runner.
Henry Rono is a Kenyan retired track and field athlete who specialised in various long-distance running events. Although he never made the Olympics, Rono is remembered as one of the most prolific collegiate competitors in the history of track in the United States, as well as being the former record holder for the 3000 metres steeplechase for over a decade. Rono also set the world record for the 5000 metres twice, first in 1978, and again in 1981
Suleiman Nyambui is a former track athlete from Tanzania who specialized in various long-distance disciplines. Nyambui won the bronze medal at the 1978 All-Africa Games, the silver medal in 5000 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and finished first at three consecutive marathons between 1987 and 1988. He holds multiple indoor national records of Tanzania in athletics.
Gennaro Di Napoli is an Italian former middle distance runner.
Sriram Singh Shekhawat is a former Indian middle-distance runner.
Harald Grønningen was a Norwegian cross-country skier who competed during the 1960s, earning five winter olympic and two world championship medals. He also won nine Norwegian championship titles and received the King's cup in 1963 and 1967. Grønningen won the 15 km twice at the Holmenkollen ski festival and earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1961.
James Kwalia C'Kurui is an athlete who represents Qatar after switching from his homeland Kenya. Specializing in the 3000 and 5000 metres, his personal best times are 7:28.28 minutes and 12:54.58 minutes respectively. He was born in Trans Nzoia. He is the current holder of the Asian indoor record over 5000 m which he broke in Düsseldorf in February 2009.
Preeja Sreedharan is an Indian long-distance runner. She holds the national records in both the 10,000 metres and 5000 metres disciplines, which she set en route to the gold and silver medals at 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Sreedharan was conferred with the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting honour by the central government in 2011.
Edward Sequeira, popularly known as Eddie, was one of India's most rhythmic middle distance runners. Essentially a half miler doing the metric mile for stamina, Sequeira also excelled in the 5,000 metres. Born on 6 February 1940 in Bombay, Eddie studied at: St. Paul's High School from where he joined the Central Railway as mechanical apprentice. Sports were compulsory for the Railway employees and Sequeira proved a natural athlete. He took up athletics seriously in 1959 and by 1963 had created new marks for the 800 and 1,500 at the Central Railway meet and then went on to repeat the performances at the Inter-Railway Meet in Delhi, He clocked 1:52.6 for the half mile and 3:49.4 for the 1,500 metres. His next step was the National titles and he duly won both the events in the National Games, retaining his hold on the events from 1963 to 1973. He set a new record in the 1500 metres in 1966, his time of 3.43.7 being even faster than the existing Asian mark. This record remained in the books for well over 35 years before Bahadur Prasad updated it during the Permit Meet in Delhi.
Reid Coolsaet is a Canadian long-distance runner who competes in the marathon.
Rene Gamarcha Herrera is a Filipino track and field athlete. In total he has won 5 gold medals at South East Asian games. Currently, Herrera is one of the newly appointed coaches of the Philippines national athletics team.
Cameron Levins is a Canadian long-distance runner from Black Creek and Courtenay, British Columbia. He won the bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 10,000 m. Levins also competed in the 2012 London Olympics.
Ali Kaya is a Turkish long distance runner of Kenyan origin competing in the 5000 m and 10,000 m events. He holds the 10,000 m European record for juniors, set in 2013.
Terrence Paul Brahm is an American former long-distance runner. He was the bronze medalist in the 3000 meters at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 1987 and represented the United States in the 5000 meters at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He was the 1986 NCAA champion in that event for the Indiana Hoosiers.
Govindan Lakshmanan is an Indian distance runner. On the track, he mostly competes over 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, but has also run the half marathon competitively.
