Bouabdellah Tahri, French runner
Bouabdallah "Bob" Tahri (born 20 December 1978) is a retired
middle-distance and long-distance French runner, who was born in Metz. He competed mainly in the 3000 m steeplechase distance. He also competes in the 2000 m steeplechase, 1500 m, mile, 3000 m, 5000 m, 10000 m and cross-country running. He has won several medals at major international championships such as the World Championships, European Championships and the European Indoor Championships. Moreover, he has won medals in the European Cup, European Team Championships, IAAF World Cup, IAAF Continental Cup and the IAAF World Athletics Final.
In June 2009, Tahri improved his 2000 m outdoor steeplechase European record with a run of 5:15.36 in Nancy, France. He set a new 3000 m outdoor steeplechase European record of 8:01.18 in finishing third in the final of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. On 25 June 2010, Tahri set a new world-record time of 5:13.47 in the 2000m outdoor steeplechase race in Tomblaine, France. The previous world-record time of 5:14.43 was set on 21 Aug 1990 by Julius Kariuki. But Tahri's 2000m outdoor steeplechase world record was broken only 5 days later by his compatriot Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad. On 29 June 2010, Tahri won the 3000m outdoor steeplechase race in Metz in the world's fastest time (8:03.72) of the year. He retired after running 3000 meters at the 2016 IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris.