Stéphane Diagana (born 23 July 1969 in Saint-Affrique, Aveyron) is a retired, French track and field sprinter and hurdler. His specialities were the 400 metres hurdles and the 4 x 400 metres relay.
Diagana won the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1997 World Championships in Athens and the 4 x 400 metres relay gold medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. In 2002 he won the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the European Championships in Munich. Diagana also set a new, European 400 metres hurdles outdoor record of 47.37 sec. in Lausanne, Switzerland on 5 July 1995. This record stood until June 2019.
In his only Olympic appearance, Diagana finished in fourth position in the final of the 400 metres hurdles of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. In that Olympics, his 4 x 400 metres relay team was eliminated in the heats.
Diagana retired from competition in 2004[1] and became a television commentator and advisor to the Fédération française d'athlétisme (French Athletics Federation).[2]
On 7 April 2008, Diagana was an Olympic torch runner for the 2008 Olympics. While he was running with the torch in Paris, Paris city councillor Sylvain Garel tried to snatch it from his hands.[3]
On 21 January 2011, Diagana was seriously injured in road accident while he was cycling along a road of the Col de Vence in the department of Alpes-Maritimes in southeast France. He was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Nice. He suffered head injuries and although in a serious condition, he did not lose consciousness.[2]
He is married to Odile Lesage, with whom he has three children.
References
edit- ^ Baxter, Andrew (19 September 2011). "Stéphane Diagana on a new track". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ a b European 400m hurdles record holder Diagana injured in a road accident Archived 5 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (22 January 2011). Retrieved on 23 January 2011.
- ^ Chris Buckley and Thierry Leveque (7 April 2008). Protests turn Paris Olympic torch run into farce The Independent. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
External links
edit- Stéphane Diagana at World Athletics
- Stéphane Diagana at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
