The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Algeria

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This page contains a list of the greatest Algerian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 12 of which were born in Algeria. This makes Algeria the birth place of the 56th most number of Athletes behind Georgia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Algerian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Algerian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Algerian Athletes.

Photo of Alain Mimoun

1. Alain Mimoun (1921 - 2013)

With an HPI of 52.34, Alain Mimoun is the most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Alain Mimoun, born Ali Mimoun Ould Kacha (1 January 1921 – 27 June 2013), was a French long-distance runner who competed in track events, cross-country running and the marathon. He was the 1956 Olympic champion in the marathon. He is the most bemedalled French athletics sportsperson in history. In 1999, readers of the French athletics magazine Athlétisme Magazine voted him as the “French Athlete of the 20th Century”. On the track Mimoun won three Olympic silver medals, finishing second behind Emil Zátopek in the 10,000 metres final in 1948 and again second behind him in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres finals in 1952. He was also the silver medallist in both events behind Zátopek at the 1950 European Athletics Championships. From 1949 to 1958, he won four individual gold medals and two individual silver medals at the International Cross Country Championships. He was a four-time gold medallist at the Mediterranean Games, completing the 5,000 m/10,000 m double in both 1951 and 1955. Born in Algeria, Mimoun fought military battles for France and the Western Allies during World War II. He settled in metropolitan France shortly after leaving the French army. Overall, he represented France in four consecutive Olympic Games from 1948 to 1960. He competed internationally for France on 86 occasions. From 1947 to 1966, he won a total of 29 senior titles in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m, marathon and cross-country events of the French national championships. Mimoun continued to run in his later life and set a number of veteran age-category records.

Photo of Boughera El Ouafi

2. Boughera El Ouafi (1898 - 1959)

With an HPI of 48.89, Boughera El Ouafi is the 2nd most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Ahmed Boughèra El Ouafi (Arabic: أحمد بوقرة الوافي; 15 October 1898 – 18 October 1959) was a French athlete who won the 1928 Olympic Marathon.

Photo of Noureddine Morceli

3. Noureddine Morceli (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 47.24, Noureddine Morceli is the 3rd most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Noureddine Morceli (Arabic: نور الدين مرسلي, Nūr ud-Dīn Mursilī; born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner. The winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Morceli won three straight gold medals at that distance at the World Championships in Athletics. He set world records in the 1500 m, mile, 2000m, and 3000 metres. One time during his career, he held six world records at the same time. As of 16 November 2024, Morceli still holds 32 track records over distances from 800 metres up to 3,000 metres set from 1990 to 1999. In international competition, Morceli was twice the gold medallist in the mile at the Goodwill Games (1994 and 1998), the Arab champion in the 1500 m in 1988, the Millrose Games champion in the mile in 1992 and 1993, the 1500 m winner at the 1994 IAAF World Cup, and the overall champion in the 1994 IAAF Grand Prix series. He was Algerian national champion in the 1500 m in 1989.

Photo of Hassiba Boulmerka

4. Hassiba Boulmerka (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 46.57, Hassiba Boulmerka is the 4th most famous Algerian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Hassiba Boulmerka (Arabic: حسيبة بولمرقة, born 10 July 1968) is a former Algerian middle distance athlete. While under threat of death from fanatics, she won Algeria's first Olympic gold medal.

Photo of Nouria Mérah-Benida

5. Nouria Mérah-Benida (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 40.69, Nouria Mérah-Benida is the 5th most famous Algerian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Nouria Merah-Benida (Arabic: نورية مراح بنيدة) (born 19 October 1970 in Algiers) is a former Algerian middle-distance runner. At the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, Merah-Benida won silver medals in both 800 metres and 1,500 metres. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney she won an unexpected gold medal ahead of Romanians Violeta Szekely (silver) and Gabriela Szabo (bronze). The same year, she won an 800 m silver medal and a 1,500 m gold medal at the African Championships. She retired after the 2001 season.

Photo of Taoufik Makhloufi

6. Taoufik Makhloufi (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 36.58, Taoufik Makhloufi is the 6th most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Taoufik Makhloufi (Arabic: توفيق مخلوفي; born 29 April 1988) is an Algerian athlete who specialises in middle-distance running. He became the 1500 metres Olympic champion at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. In 2016, Makhloufi took the silver medal in the 800m and 1500 m at the Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil. He was also the 800 metres gold medallist at the 2012 African Championships and the 2011 All-Africa Games. He has represented Algeria three times at the World Championships in Athletics. His personal bests are 1:42.61 for the 800 m, set at the Rio Olympics, and 3:28.75 for the 1500 metres. He trains with GS Pétroliers.

Photo of Djabir Saïd-Guerni

7. Djabir Saïd-Guerni (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 35.42, Djabir Saïd-Guerni is the 7th most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Aïssa Djabir Saïd-Guerni (Arabic: عيسى جبير سعيد قرني, born 29 March 1977 in Algiers) is a retired Algerian athlete who predominantly competed in the 800 metres. Saïd-Guerni competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics in the 800 metres, and was also the flag bearer for Algeria at both these games. He announced his retirement on 6 May 2007, following injury problems. His personal best time was 1:43.09 minutes, achieved in September 1999 in Brussels.

Photo of Ali Saïdi-Sief

8. Ali Saïdi-Sief (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 34.97, Ali Saïdi-Sief is the 8th most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Ali Saidi-Sief (Arabic: علي سعيدي سياف, born March 15, 1978) is an Algerian Olympic runner. His specialty is the 1,500 m race, but he took a silver medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics for the 5,000 m, losing the gold to Ethiopian athlete Million Wolde. The International Association of Athletics Federations banned him from competing for two years after he tested positive for nandrolone, a banned performance-enhancing steroid, at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A second expert examination at a laboratory in Cologne showed that a supplement he had been taking (Peruvat) contained nandrolone, which was not among the labelled ingredients. This did not affect his doping ban, as the rules apply strict athlete liability, but he vowed to seek compensation from the supplement maker.

Photo of Abderrahmane Hammad

9. Abderrahmane Hammad (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 34.11, Abderrahmane Hammad is the 9th most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Abderrahmane Hammad Zaheer (Arabic: عبدالرحمن حمٌاد, born May 27, 1977) is the Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports and a former track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics in 2000, taking the bronze medal and made a second appearance at the 2004 Athens Olympics. His personal best of 2.34 m is the Algerian record for the event. He retired from the sport in 2010. In 2020, he became the President of the Algerian Olympic Committee. Hammad was appointed as minister on 16 March 2023.

Photo of Amar Benikhlef

10. Amar Benikhlef (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 32.74, Amar Benikhlef is the 10th most famous Algerian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Amar Benikhlef (born 11 January 1982) is an Algerian judoka who competed in the middleweight division. He won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In September 2021, Benikhlef was suspended for 10 years, until July 2031 for "a clear and very serious breach of the IJF Statutes, the IJF Code of Ethics and the Olympic Charter.".

People

Pantheon has 34 people classified as Algerian athletes born between 1898 and 2001. Of these 34, 32 (94.12%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Algerian athletes include Noureddine Morceli, Hassiba Boulmerka, and Nouria Mérah-Benida. The most famous deceased Algerian athletes include Alain Mimoun, and Boughera El Ouafi. As of April 2024, 23 new Algerian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Hicham Bouchicha, Slimane Moula, and Yang Hengyu.

Living Algerian Athletes

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Deceased Algerian Athletes

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Newly Added Algerian Athletes (2024)

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