Wallonia

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday today (Thursday) to an Olympic champion who was born on a Thursday in a certain country 101 years ago today and died at the age of 71 in that same country.

This birthday individual competed in two Olympic Games in the same event.

Our birthday champion won Olympic gold at the first of those two Olympic Games.

You might already know that this Olympic gold medal winner was the first from a certain country to win a track & field Olympic gold medal.

To win that Olympic gold medal, our birthday athlete did not have to travel very far to reach the Olympic stadium where this person won the gold medal.

No hurdles were involved in this athlete's Olympic event.

Can you name our birthday person on this eighth Thursday of February?

Give it a try and I hope I didn't make any mistakes.

[Olli]

A Belgian who won in London? Alas, I do not know any.

[dukehjsteve]

A Belgian who won in London? Alas, I do not know any.

Thanks for the hint, Olli, because i know a Belgian, although I did not know where Wallonia was, thanks again !

How about Gaston Reiff who won the 5 K in 1948 ? He's from Belgium !

[DoubleRBar]

Gaston Reiff was born in Belgium 101 years ago today. Very nice, dukehjsteve.

Gaston Reiff won a very exciting 5,000 at the 1948 London Olympics (in the rain). He beat Emil Zatopek 14:17.6 to 14:17.8.

Four years later (1952) in Helsinki, Reiff again ran the 5,000, however he did not make the final in Finland and Zatopek won that race.

Reiff started out as a boxer (similar to Jim Beatty), but then switched to soccer and then finally track & field.

Gaston Reiff died in Belgium in May of 1992 at the age of 71.

Thank you dukehjsteve and Olli.

[cigar95]

I'm struck by how this game is often made a lot easier by the absence of the games in '40 and '44. Had there been no gap, some of these puzzles would require more clues.