The Most Famous
ATHLETES from Algeria
This page contains a list of the greatest Algerian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 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.
1. Alain Mimoun (1921 - 2013)
With an HPI of 54.42, Alain Mimoun is the most famous Algerian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 25 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.
2. Boughera El Ouafi (1898 - 1959)
With an HPI of 49.02, 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.
3. Hassiba Boulmerka (1968 - )
With an HPI of 44.16, Hassiba Boulmerka is the 3rd most famous Algerian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.
Hassiba Boulmerka (Arabic: حسيبة بولمرقة, born 10 July 1968) is a former Algerian middle distance athlete.
4. Noureddine Morceli (1970 - )
With an HPI of 43.35, Noureddine Morceli is the 4th most famous Algerian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.
Noureddine Morceli (Arabic: نور الدين مرسلي, Nūr ud-Dīn Mursilī; born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner. He was the winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics and won three straight gold medals at that distance at the World Championships in Athletics. He set world records in the 1500 m, the mile run and the 3000 metres. In international competition, he 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.
5. Tommy Green (1894 - 1975)
With an HPI of 43.04, Tommy Green is the 5th most famous Algerian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Thomas William Green (30 March 1894 – 29 March 1975) was a British racewalker who won a gold medal in the men's 50 km walk at the 1932 Summer Olympics. The son of a police constable, Green could not walk until the age of five, owing to his affliction with rickets. He lied about his age and joined the British Army in 1906 and served during the First World War, where he was wounded on three occasions and gassed while fighting in France. Returning to Britain, he eventually settled in Eastleigh where he worked at a railway works before being encouraged by a blind friend to take up racewalking. Green's career began to rise during the late 1920s and reached its peak during the 1930s, when he became the first British national and Olympic 50 km racewalking champion. He continued his success through the mid-1930s, but placed fourth at the 1936 National Championships and was thus unable to compete in that year's Summer Olympic Games. He retired from competitive athletics and had a career as a publican prior to spending his retirement as a sports promoter and administrator. Tommy Green Walk in Eastleigh is named in his honour.
6. Nouria Mérah-Benida (1970 - )
With an HPI of 38.84, Nouria Mérah-Benida is the 6th most famous Algerian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 25 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.
7. Taoufik Makhloufi (1988 - )
With an HPI of 34.44, Taoufik Makhloufi is the 7th most famous Algerian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 29 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 minutes for the 800 m, set at the Rio Olympics, and 3:28.75 minutes for the 1500 metres. He trains with GS Pétroliers.
8. Ali Saïdi-Sief (1978 - )
With an HPI of 33.98, 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.
9. Djabir Saïd-Guerni (1977 - )
With an HPI of 32.40, Djabir Saïd-Guerni is the 9th most famous Algerian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 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.
10. Amar Benikhlef (1982 - )
With an HPI of 30.92, Amar Benikhlef is the 10th most famous Algerian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 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.".
Pantheon has 12 people classified as athletes born between 1894 and 1988. Of these 12, 9 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Hassiba Boulmerka, Noureddine Morceli, and Nouria Mérah-Benida. The most famous deceased athletes include Alain Mimoun, Boughera El Ouafi, and Tommy Green. As of April 2022, 1 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Tommy Green.
Living Athletes
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Hassiba Boulmerka
1968 - Present
HPI: 44.16
Noureddine Morceli
1970 - Present
HPI: 43.35
Nouria Mérah-Benida
1970 - Present
HPI: 38.84
Taoufik Makhloufi
1988 - Present
HPI: 34.44
Ali Saïdi-Sief
1978 - Present
HPI: 33.98
Djabir Saïd-Guerni
1977 - Present
HPI: 32.40
Amar Benikhlef
1982 - Present
HPI: 30.92
Abderrahmane Hammad
1977 - Present
HPI: 30.77
Nassima Saifi
1988 - Present
HPI: 25.29
Deceased Athletes
Go to all RankingsAlain Mimoun
1921 - 2013
HPI: 54.42
Boughera El Ouafi
1898 - 1959
HPI: 49.02
Tommy Green
1894 - 1975
HPI: 43.04
Newly Added Athletes (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Athletes were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Athletes since 1700.
