Background
Bernard was born to Pierre Bernard, a blacksmith, whereas his mother ran a hardware shop.
Bernard was born to Pierre Bernard, a blacksmith, whereas his mother ran a hardware shop.
He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics in the 1500 m and 5000 m and finished in seventh place in all events.
Between 1985 and 1987 he was president of the Fédération française d"athlétisme. At sixteen, Bernard started working at a factory. He lost his form during 18 months of the military service, but had recovered it by 1954.
Nationally, Bernard was losing to Michel Jazy, who was a stronger runner and had better conditions for training, whereas Bernard had to take unpaid leaves from work to prepare for major competitions.
In 1960, Bernard met Chantal Churn, also a track athlete. After retiring from competitions Bernard became involved with the national althletics federation, serving as its president between 1985 and 1987.
He also became interested in local politics, and founded in 2001 the association Anzin pour tous. 1500 m – 3:38.7 (1963)
5000 m – 13:40.0 (1971).
During his career he won nine national titles, in the 1500 m (1955 and 1959), 5000 m (1958–1960 and 1962) and 10000 m (1961, 1964 and 1965). Next year he became involved with running, and in 1949 and 1950 became junior champion of France. In 1955, he won his first senior national title and was selected for the national team, but not for the 1956 Olympics.
