| Roger Rochard | |
| Nationality: | French |
| Sport: | Athletics |
| Event: | 5000 metres |
| Club: | Évreux AC |
| Pb: | 5000 m – 14:36.8 (1934) |
| Birth Date: | 1913 4, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Évreux, France |
| Death Date: | [1] |
| Height: | 1.71m (05.61feet) |
| Weight: | 61kg (134lb) |
Roger Rochard (20 April 1913 – 24 February 1993) was a French long-distance runner. He was the first French track and field athlete to become a European champion, winning the 5000 metres race at the 1934 European Athletics Championships in Turin, Italy.
As an 18-year-old, Rochard surprisingly won the 5000 m in the 1931 national dual meet between France and Britain, running 15:11.8.[2] Later that summer, he also won in a dual meet against Germany, this time running 15:03.6.[3] His best time that year was 15:01.6, which he ran in Paris on 25 October, but in that race he was defeated by Poland's Janusz Kusociński, who went on to win Olympic gold at 10,000 metres.[4]
In 1932 Rochard broke 15 minutes for the first time, running 14:56.8;[5] he was selected for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he qualified for the final but did not finish it. In 1933 Rochard improved to 14:46.5 in a dual meet against Finland, only narrowly losing to Finland's Olympic medalist Lasse Virtanen.[5]
At the 1934 European Championships in Turin Rochard was up against Kusociński, Virtanen and Ilmari Salminen, but outkicked them all and won gold by a clear 4.4 second margin.[5] [6] His winning time, 14:36.8, was his personal best; he only missed out on the French record, set by Jean Bouin in his duel against Hannes Kolehmainen at the 1912 Summer Olympics, by one-tenth of a second.[5] Rochard was the first French athlete to win gold at the European Athletics Championships,[7] and the only one to do so in the inaugural 1934 meet.
Rochard returned to the Olympics in Berlin in 1936; he again took part in the 5000 m, but was eliminated in the heats. He attempted to defend his European title at the 1938 Championships in Paris, but only placed eighth.[8]