Gabriel Tiacoh
 Tiacoh in 1984 | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics
| ||
Representing  Ivory Coast
| ||
Summer Olympics
| ||
 |
1984 Los Angeles | 400 metres |
Gabriel Tiacoh (February 9, 1963 – April 2, 1992) was a
Côte d'Ivoire who specialised in the 400 metres. He is best known for winning his nation's first Olympic medal, in the 400 meters in 1984
.
A former
1988 Seoul Games
, but did not make the final.
He died of
Atlanta, Georgia
at the age of 29, survived by his only daughter Alexis Tiacoh. He had a personal best of 44.30 seconds for the 400 m.
Career
He took part in the inaugural
René Djédjémel Mélédjé
) was knocked out in the semi-finals.
He lost his continental 400 m title to
NCAA champion that year. Tiacoh ran at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics
and easily progressed through the heats to the final. However, he only managed to finish in seventh place in the 400 m final as he could not match his previous form (his semi-final time of 44.69 s would have been enough to gain the bronze).
At the
Olympic semi-final
, but they finished in sixth position and did not qualify for the final.
His final year of major competitions was 1989: he regained his 400 m African title at the 1989 African Championships in Athletics and also won a gold medal at the first Jeux de la Francophonie. Representing Africa at the 1989 IAAF World Cup, he finished third in the 400 m for the bronze medal.
Tiacoh died in 1992 in Atlanta of tuberculous meningitis caused by miliary tuberculosis at the age of 29.[2] He remains the 400 m national record holder for Côte d'Ivoire.
He had an annual track and field meeting named in his honour – the Gabriel Tiacoh meet in Abidjan.[3]
Achievements
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing Ivory Coast
| |||||
| 1983 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 5th (quarter-final) | 400 m | |
| 5th (heats) | 4 × 100 m relay
| ||||
| 7th (heats) | 4 × 400 m relay
| ||||
| 1984 | African Championships | Rabat, Morocco | 1st | 400 m | |
| Olympic Games | Los Angeles, California
|
2nd | 400 m | ||
| 6th (semi-finals) | 4 × 400 m relay
| ||||
| 1985 | African Championships | Cairo, Egypt | 2nd | 400 m | |
| 1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | 7th | 400 m | |
| 1988 | African Championships | Annaba, Algeria | 2nd | 400 m | |
| Summer Olympics | Seoul, South Korea | 5th (quarter-finals) | 400 m | ||
| 6th (semi-finals) | 4 × 400 m relay
| ||||
| 1989 | African Championships | Lagos, Nigeria | 1st | 400 m | |
| IAAF World Cup | Barcelona, Spain | 3rd | 400 m | ||
| Jeux de la Francophonie | Casablanca, Morocco | 1st | 400m | ||
Trivia
- In the comedy sketch show Little Britain, Denver Mills (David Walliams) claims to have the silver medal won by Tiacoh at the 1984 Summer Olympics, however this is not mentioned in the show. (The comedy arises from the fact that people do not appreciate his achievement as much as he would like.)
References
- ^ Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Quarter-Finals Archived July 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Sports-reference. Retrieved on 2010-04-24.
- ^ Gabriel Tiacoh Archived September 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Sports-reference. Retrieved on 2010-04-24.
- IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-04-24.
