Mounir Akbache

Mounir Akbache (born 14 March 1986) is a French middle-distance runner. After achieving modest success on the national level, he became a pacemaker (also known as a rabbit) for the Diamond League. As a rabbit, Akbache has paced several middle-distance world records in athletics, including for the indoor 3000 metres and outdoor 2000 metres.[2]

Mounir Akbache
Akbache pacing the 2022 FBK Games 1500 m
Personal information
Nationality France
Born (1986-03-14) 14 March 1986[1]
Education
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)1500 metres
800 metres
ClubClub Athlétique de Montreuil 93[1]
Achievements and titles
National finals
Personal best(s)1500m:
3:39.81 (2014)

800m:
1:49.55 (2021)
Updated on 6 April 2024

Athletics career

Akbache's individual career started as early as 2006, and he raced at several French Athletics Championships with a best placing of 4th at the 2015 indoor edition in the 1500 metres.[3] Despite national-level successes, he was not able to qualify for the highest level of international competition, so he became a pacemaker.[4]

Pacing career

Akbache paced his first world record at the 2023 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, leading Lamecha Girma to break a 25-year-old record in the indoor 3000 metres. Speaking in French after the race, Akbache said, "I could feel that [Girma] was hyper-confident. He'd done some crazy sessions in training, he knew he had the world record in his legs".[5]

Akbache is one of Jakob Ingebrigtsen's favorite pacemakers, helping Ingebrigtsen break the 2000 metres world record at the 2023 Memorial Van Damme.[6] At the 2023 Bislett Games, Akbache paced Ingebrigtsen through the first lap in 55.47 seconds, leading Track & Field News to state "the pacing couldn't have been better". Ingebrigtsen would set a best of 3:27.95 in that race, a national record.[7]

Personal life

Akbache is a member of the Club athlétique de Montreuil 93 athletics club in France.[1] He studied at the Institut national des sciences appliquées de Lyon, and he is also an engineer at the Roads Testing and Materials Department for the Centre Expérimental de Recherches et d'Etudes du Bâtiment et des Travaux Publics.[8][3]

Statistics

Personal best progression
1500m progression
#MarkPl.CompetitionVenueDateRef.
13:52.976th (Heat 1-22)French U23 ChampionshipsVénissieux, France19 July 2008[9]
23:47.54Villefranche-sur-Saone, France25 June 2010[10]
33:47.375thChassieu, France10 June 2011[11]
43:47.287thMeeting National D1 de BesançonBesançon, France13 June 2011[12]
53:46.498th (Round B)Meeting National D1 de Metz Moselle AthlelorMetz, France26 June 2011[13]
63:44.697thMemorial Leon Buyle, Putbosstadion, Lede-OordegemOordegem, Belgium1 July 2011[14]
73:42.835th (Round B)Memorial Gert RasschaertNinove, Belgium20 July 2012[15]
83:42.6211thMeeting National de MontbéliardMontbéliard, France5 June 2014[16]
93:41.767thMeeting National d'AmiensAmiens, France20 June 2014[17]
103:39.8110thMeeting Pro Athlé Tour de MontreuilMontreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France6 July 2014[18]

References
  1. Mounir Akbache at Tilastopaja (registration required)
  2. Lagat, Justin (21 July 2023). "Athletic fans in Monaco witness world-leading performances as Kipyegon breaks the world record again". runblogrun. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  3. "Championnats de France Elite : Mounir Akbache pas loin de créer la surprise sur 800 mètres". Vo2 (in French). 23 February 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  4. AOMH. "AOMH - Meeting Mondeville 2024 - Mounir Akbache, un coureur au service des autres". www.aomh.fr. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  5. "L'Éthiopien Lamecha Girma bat le record du monde du 3000 m". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  6. "#27 - Mounir Akbache : Lièvre international". On Your Marks (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  7. "Oslo DL Men — Ingebrigtsen Leads Deep 1500 – Track & Field News". Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  8. "SPORT & PERFORMANCE - Mounir Akbache, ingénieur chef de service et athlète". Syntec (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  9. "Athletics recap for meeting #11979127". Tilastopaja.
  10. "Athletics recap for meeting #12798996". Tilastopaja.
  11. "Athletics recap for meeting #12811622". Tilastopaja.
  12. "Athletics recap for meeting #12811604". Tilastopaja.
  13. "Athletics recap for meeting #12812379". Tilastopaja.
  14. "Athletics recap for meeting #12812683". Tilastopaja.
  15. "Athletics recap for meeting #12824916". Tilastopaja.
  16. "Athletics recap for meeting #12851678". Tilastopaja.
  17. "Athletics recap for meeting #12852387". Tilastopaja.
  18. "Athletics recap for meeting #12852814". Tilastopaja.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.