Jun 28, 2013 1 min read

PARIS – Alain Mimoun, who won the 1956 Olympic marathon after overcoming the Czech rival who thwarted him three times, has died. He was 92.

Mimoun, whose death was confirmed by France’s athletics federation, won three silver medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics – narrowly missing the gold each time to Czech great Emil Zatopek.

In 1956, he switched to the marathon from shorter-distance races and won, waiting at the finish line for Zatopek to cross in sixth place.

The men embraced and Mimoun later said, “That was better than the medal.”