Séra Martin
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Séraphin "Séra" Martin (2 July 1906 – 23 April 1993) was a French
middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...
who set
world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
in the
800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...
and
1000 metres The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...
. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics and placed sixth and eighth in the 800 metres, respectively.


Career

Martin set a
world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
at
1000 metres The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...
in 1926, running 2:26.8 to break
Sven Lundgren Sven Emil Lundgren (29 September 1896 – 18 June 1960) was a Sweden, Swedish middle-distance runner who competed in the 800 m, 1500 and 3000 m events at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. He had his best results in 1920, when he won a bronze medal in ...
's old record of 2:28.6. Two weeks before the
1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...
, Martin ran
800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...
in 1:50.6, breaking
Otto Peltzer Otto Paul Eberhard Peltzer (8 March 1900 – 11 August 1970) was a German middle distance runner who set world records in the 1920s. Over the 800 m Peltzer improved Ted Meredith's long-standing record by 0.3 seconds to 1:51.6 min in London in J ...
's world record by a full second. This established him as one of the favourites for the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. He did make the Olympic final, but was never a major factor in the race and finished sixth in a time of 1:54.6, clearly slower than the 1:53.0 he ran in the semi-finals. He returned to the Olympics in
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
, placing eighth with a time of 1:53.6. Martin was one of the
pacemakers An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a Implant (medicine), medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the Heart ...
when
Jules Ladoumègue Jules Ladoumègue (10 December 1906 – 2 March 1973) was a French middle-distance runner. He became a running star as the sport enjoyed a huge resurgence at the start of the Great Depression, fueled in large part by newsreel coverage. His caree ...
set his world record at
1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...
.


Notes


References

1906 births 1993 deaths Sportspeople from Nice French male middle-distance runners World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes of France Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Pacemakers 20th-century French people {{France-middledistance-athletics-bio-stub