Hassiba boulmerka biography of alberta
Hassiba Boulmerka
Algerian middle-distance runner
Hassiba Boulmerka (Arabic: حسيبة بولمرقة, born 10 July ) is a former Algerian middle distance athlete. While under threat of death from fanatics, she won Algeria's first Olympic gold medal.
Career
Born in Constantine in northeastern Algeria, Boulmerka started running seriously at the age of ten,[1] specializing in the and 1, metres. She was successful in national and regional races, although there wasn't much competition.[citation needed] Her first major international tournament was the Summer Olympics in Seoul, where she was eliminated in the preliminary heat of both the and 1,&#;m.
Boulmerka's performances slowly became better, and her big breakthrough came in The first major race she won was the &#;m at the Golden Gala race in Rome. A month later, she competed at the World Championships. On the last straight of the &#;m final, she sprinted to victory, becoming the first African woman to win an athletics world title.
Her performance did not only give her positive attention. She was frequently criticized by Muslim groups in Algeria who thought she showed too much of her body when racing. Boulmerka received death threats[1] and was forced to move to Europe to train. In spite of this, she was one of the favourites for the &#;m gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics. In the final, she fought off Lyudmila Rogachova and Qu Yunxia (world record holder until ) for the gold medal. It was Algeria's first gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Boulmerka's next two seasons were not as successful, although she won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart. In , she hadn't won a single race going into the World Championships in Gothenburg, but this did not prevent her from winning her second world title. It was her only victory of that season, and her last major victory. She competed at the Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, but sprained her ankle in the semi-finals. After the season, in which she did not defend her world title, she retired from sport.
Boulmerka was later elected to the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee.[2]
She formerly held the 1, metres African record with her time of run on 8 August in Barcelona. She also held the one mile African record of , set in in Oslo, for 17 years until it was beaten by Gelete Burika of Ethiopia, who timed in [3]
Post-athletics career
Boulmerka has returned to Algeria and is now a businesswoman.[1]