Gaston Étienne Ghislaine Reiff (24 February 1921 – 6 May 1992) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

runner. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in the 5000 m event and won it in 1948, defeating

Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek (; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final me ...

in the final and becoming the first Belgian track and field athlete to win an Olympic title. He lost to Zátopek at the 1950 European Championships, placing third. Reiff competed in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

and football before changing to athletics. Besides his Olympic gold medal he set

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 ...

s in the 2000 m, 3000 m and 2 miles and won 24 national titles; in 1951 he held Belgian records on distances ranging from 1000 m to 10000 m. A street in Braine-l'Alleud and the town's stadium are named after Reiff in his home town of Braine-l'Alleud.Gaston Reiff
. sports-reference.com

References

1921 births 1992 deaths People from Braine-l'Alleud Belgian male middle-distance runners Belgian male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Belgium Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Belgium World record setters in athletics (track and field) European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Walloon Brabant Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Belgium-athletics-bio-stub