Francisco Aritmendi Criado (17 or 19 September 1938 – 12 April 2020) was a Spanish long-distance runner who competed mainly in cross country running competitions.

He ran during the amateur era of athletics and ultimately sold his historic International Cross Country gold medal due to poverty.

Born during the height of the Spanish Civil War in Málaga del Fresno, a rural area near Madrid,[1] he grew up in nearby Cogolludo.

In spite of his slight and small build (1.57 m), he performed well and quickly rose to win the national junior title in 1958, running with hemp shoes.

[5] There were high hopes for his performance at the 1963 International Cross Country Championships, which was held on home turf in San Sebastián.

The course in Dublin became increasingly muddy in the rain and Aritmendi persisted as Roelants dropped out and Englishmen Ron Hill and John Cooke fell back.

[3] Following his cross country win he began to receive support from the Spanish Athletics Federation and was assigned Kosta Olander as his coach.

[3][5] He did not match this performance later in the season, however, taking third at the Spanish Athletics Championships and being eliminated in fourth place of his heat at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

He had one more win at the Catalan race in 1967 and, after taking fifth at the nationals, finished 35th in a weakened Spanish team at the 1967 International Cross Country Championships.