Nouria Mérah-Benida
 Nouria Merah-Benida (Arabic: نورية مراح بنيدة‎) (born October 19 1970 in Algiers) is a former Algerian middle distance runner.At the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg Merah-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.