Boughera El Ouafi

{{Infobox sportsperson

|name = Boughera El Ouafi

|image = El Ouafi 1928.JPG

|caption = Ahmed Boughera El Ouafi in 1928

|headercolor = lightsteelblue

|birth_date = {{birth date|1898|10|15|df=y}}

|birth_place = Ouled Djellal, French Algeria

|death_date = {{death date and age|1959|10|18|1898|10|15|df=y}}

|death_place = Saint-Denis, France

|sport = Athletics

|event = Long-distance running

|country = France

|medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry|{{FRA}}}}

}}

Ahmed Boughèra El Ouafi ({{langx|ar|أحمد بوقرة الوافي}}; 15 October 1898 – 18 October 1959) was a French Algerian athlete who won the 1928 Olympic Marathon.{{cite web |title=Boughera El Ouafi |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/68219 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250312124821/https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/68219 |archive-date=12 March 2025 |access-date=19 September 2021 |work=Olympedia}}

Biography

Image:Boughera El Ouafi (Amsterdam 1928).jpg

El Ouafi was born in the town of Ouled Djellal, joining the French military regiment later (at that time, Algeria was part of French Algeria). One of his superior officers noticed El Ouafi's athletic abilities and decided to send him to a military sports competition in mainland France.{{cite web |title=AHMED BOUGHERA EL OUAFI |url=https://casdenhistoiresport.fr/exposition/sportives-et-sportifs/ahmed-boughera-el-ouafi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227223503/https://casdenhistoiresport.fr/exposition/sportives-et-sportifs/ahmed-boughera-el-ouafi |archive-date=27 February 2021 |access-date=10 April 2024 |website=Casden Histoire Sport}}

He became a factory worker at Renault in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris and in 1924 became a France marathon champion, thus qualifying for the 1924 Olympic marathon.

Boughèra El Ouafi completed his first Olympic marathon, running for France, in seventh position. He became a France marathon champion for the second and last time in 1928, thus qualifying for the 1928 Olympic marathon.

In the 1928 competition, he ran behind the leaders for the first three quarters of the race, overtaking them some 5 km before the end. He finished first, 26 seconds ahead of second-placed Manuel Plaza from Chile. El Ouafi was the only representative of French athletics to win gold at the 1928 Olympics.

After his surprise victory, El Ouafi toured the United States. However, the money he earned with this trip disqualified him as an amateur athlete, causing him to leave the sport, and he opened a cafe in Paris. El Ouafi remained forgotten until 1956, when another Algerian, Alain Mimoun, also won the Olympic marathon. Reporters went to seek out the other Algerian who had won 28 years earlier and found him a pauper.

El Ouafi was killed while in a café in 1959, three days after his 61st birthday. Accounts of his death vary. French media then said that he was targeted by members of the National Liberation Front after he had refused to support them; other accounts say he was a bystander victim of an argument between family members and revolutionaries, or was killed during a family quarrel. The Louafi Bouguera Olympic Bridge was named in his honor in 2024.{{cite news |date=2 December 2024 |title=Le pont du Village olympique deviendra le pont Louafi Bouguera, en hommage au premier Franco-Algérien médaillé d'or olympique |url=https://www.beurfm.net/le-pont-du-village-olympique-deviendra-le-pont-louafi-bouguera-en-hommage-au-premier-franco-algerien-medaille-d-or-olympique |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250223032337/https://www.beurfm.net/le-pont-du-village-olympique-deviendra-le-pont-louafi-bouguera-en-hommage-au-premier-franco-algerien-medaille-d-or-olympique |archive-date=23 February 2025 |access-date=21 December 2024 |publisher=Beur FM |language=fr}}