Abdelwahab Ferguène

Abdelwahab Ferguène
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Algeria
All-Africa Games
Silver medal – second place 1991 Cairo 20 km walk
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 1984 Rabat 20 km walk
Gold medal – first place 1985 Cairo 20 km walk
Silver medal – second place 1988 Annaba 20 km walk
Silver medal – second place 1989 Lagos 20 km walk
Silver medal – second place 1990 Cairo 20 km walk

Abdelwahab Ferguène (Arabic: عبد الوهاب فرقان; born 18 November 1958) is an Algerian former racewalking athlete who competed in the 20 kilometres race walk. Born in Akbou, he twice represented Algeria at the Summer Olympics, 26th in 1984 and 32nd in 1988.[1] He was also a three-time participant at the World Championships in Athletics (1983, 1987, 1993) and a four-time representative at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup.[2] He was a two-time winner of the African Championships in Athletics (1984, 1985) and won four continental silver medals. He also finished in the top two at the Maghreb Athletics Championships and Arab Athletics Championships throughout his career.

Career

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Ferguène followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Benamar Kachkouche (the first African race walk champion) to lead the continent and the Arab world in the race walk during the 1980s. He took runner-up spots behind Kachkouche at the 1981 Arab Athletics Championships and at the Maghreb Athletics Championships in 1981 and 1983.[3][4]

Following appearances at the World Championships in 1983 and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics,[1][2] he rose to the peak of his region with a win at the 1984 African Championships in Athletics, edging his compatriot Kachkouche by such a narrow margin that they received the same time. This marked the start of his most successful period, as he won four further major titles after this. He retained his title at the 1985 African Championships, besting Shemsu Hassan by nearly nine minutes,[5] and set a games record of 1:32:31 hours to win the 1985 Pan Arab Games that same year.[6] In 1986 he topped the podium at the Maghreb Championships, beating runner-up Mohamed Haddadou by over fifteen minutes.[3] He achieved a championship record of 1:30:39 hours en route to winning the 1987 Arab Athletics Championships.[7]

At the 1987 World Championships in Athletics he placed 35th – the only African in the race.[2] He and Mohamed Bouhalla formed the African contingent at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Ferguène finished ahead of his countryman and gave his best championship performance with a time of 1:26:33 hours for 32nd place.[1] The younger Bouhalla was fast improving, however, and Ferguène ended up silver medallist behind him at both the 1988 and 1989 African Championships in Athletics. Ethiopia's Shemsu Hassan dipped under an hour and a half to leave Ferguène as runner-up at the 1990 African Championships in Athletics and the 1991 All-Africa Games.[5][8]

His last title came at the 1992 Pan Arab Games.[6] He also set a career best that year, with 1:22:51 hours at a race in Hildesheim, Germany.[9] After seventh at the 1991 Mediterranean Games, he made his final high-profile appearance for Algeria at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics, coming in a career high of 34th and two places behind Hatem Ghoula, who would later become Africa's first world medallist in the sport.[2]

Ferguène won at least six national titles in racewalking during his career.[10] He remains the African record holder for the 50,000 m track walk,[11] as well as the Algerian record holder in the 20 km road walk, 5000 m track walk and 30,000 m track walk disciplines.[12]

He and Samia Djemaa (a javelin thrower for Algeria)[13] had a daughter, Amina Ferguène, who herself took up athletics and represented Algeria in the hurdles.[14]

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1981 Maghreb Championships Algiers, Algeria 2nd 20,000 m walk 1:34:07.4
Arab Championships Tunis, Tunisia 2nd 20 km walk 1:41:40
1983 Maghreb Championships Casablanca, Morocco 2nd 20,000 m walk 1:32:38.1
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 35th 20 km walk 1:29:53
1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles, United States 26th 20 km walk 1:31:24
African Championships Rabat, Morocco 1st 20 km walk 1:30:02
1985 World Race Walking Cup St John's, Isle of Man 37th 20 km walk 1:32:51
African Championships Cairo, Egypt 1st 20 km walk 1:33:28
Pan Arab Games Casablanca, Morocco 1st 20 km walk 1:32:31
Universiade Kobe, Japan 21st 20 km walk 1:41:44
1986 Maghreb Championships Tunis, Tunisia 1st 20 km walk 1:36:19
1987 World Race Walking Cup New York City, United States 40th 20 km walk 1:26:17
Arab Championships Algiers, Algeria 1st 20 km walk 1:30:39
World Championships Rome, Italy 35th 20 km walk 1:34:26
1988 African Championships Annaba, Algeria 2nd 20 km walk 1:34:07
Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 32nd 20 km walk 1:26:33
1989 World Race Walking Cup Barcelona, Spain 34th 20 km walk 1:26:04
African Championships Lagos, Nigeria 2nd 20 km walk 1:36:49
Arab Championships Cairo, Egypt 2nd 20 km walk 1:51:52
1990 African Championships Cairo, Egypt 2nd 20 km walk 1:31:00
1991 World Race Walking Cup San Jose, United States 62nd 20 km walk 1:29:51
Mediterranean Games Athens, Greece 7th 20 km walk 1:33:27
All-Africa Games Cairo, Egypt 2nd 20 km walk 1:35:21
1992 Pan Arab Games Latakia, Syria 1st 20 km walk 1:32:31
1993 World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 34th 20 km walk 1:35:48

National titles

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Abdel Wahab Ferguene. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  2. ^ a b c d Abdelouaheb Ferguene. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  3. ^ a b Maghreb Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  4. ^ Al Batal Al Arabi (N°:7) Archived 2015-02-19 at the Wayback Machine. Arab Athletics Union. Retrieved on 2015-02-14.
  5. ^ a b African Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  6. ^ a b Pan Arab Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  7. ^ Al Batal Al Arabi (N°:22) Archived 2015-02-19 at the Wayback Machine. Arab Athletics Union. Retrieved on 2015-02-14.
  8. ^ All-Africa Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  9. ^ Abdelwahib FERGUENE. All-Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  10. ^ Algerian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  11. ^ Africa Records Men as at 31 March 2016 Archived 2016-06-11 at the Wayback Machine. Confederation of African Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  12. ^ RECORDS D’ ALGERIE SENIORS DAMES. Algerian Athletics Federation. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  13. ^ Samia Djemaa. All-Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
  14. ^ Amina Ferguène : Médaille de Bronze. Dellys. Retrieved on 2016-05-29.
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