Nouria Mérah-Benida
Nouria Merah-Benida () (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 an extremely 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. She retired after the 2001 season.