Gaston Roelants

The Belgian won the International Cross Country Championships four times between 1962 and 1972, a decade at the top on heavy European winter courses. An Olympic steeplechase champion in 1964, he brought a steeplechaser's rhythm over obstacles and a willingness to grind in the mud that suited the era's long, unforgiving races. His long run of high placings in the event is the old-school benchmark for cross-country longevity.