Nouria Mérah-Benida Athlete
Nouria Mérah-Benida (born October 19, 1970 in Algiers) is an Algerian middle distance runner. At the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg Mérah-Benida won silver medals in both 800 metres and 1500 metres. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney she won a somewhat surprising gold medal ahead of Romanians Violeta Szekely (silver) and Gabriela Szabo (bronze). The same year she won an 800 m silver medal and a 1500 m gold medal at the African Championships.