Émile Champion

athletics
silver	1900	marathon

Émile Champion (born December 7, 1879 ; † unknown) was a French athlete who finished second in the marathon of the 1900 Olympic Games .

Champion is often referred to in sports literature as one of the favorites among runners who took part in the marathon at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris . There is no proof for this assumption, because there is no proof of performance from the Émile Champion, who was only 20 years old at the time of the games. In 1898 the name Champion appeared in the list of winners of the long-distance run from Paris to Conflans , a 40 km run for professionals , but it was Émile's brother, François Champion.

His distinctive name, his home game in Paris, his actual success and the fact that one of the few photos from the 1900 marathon in Paris shows Émile Champion are the only factors that make him look like a favorite in retrospect.

The Olympic marathon in Paris took place on July 19, 1900 at temperatures of up to 39 ° C. It was the hottest run in Olympic history. A favorite role was irrelevant under these conditions. The winner was a hitherto unknown runner, Michel Théato . Together with him and the later third, Ernst Fast , Champion was in a leading group for most of the run. In the end it was enough for second place, more than four minutes behind the winner.

The rankings at the Olympic Games for Émile Champion:

• II. Olympic Games 1900, Paris
  • Marathon - SILVER with 3:04:17 h (gold to Michel Théato , LUX with 2:59:45 h; bronze to Ernst Fast , SWE with 3:37:14 h)

Nothing is known about the life of Émile Champion other than his participation in the Olympic marathon in Paris.

Web links

• Émile Champion in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )