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Moroccan
rocket: Hicham El Guerrouj
He is a world record holder
in 1500 meters,1 mile race .He is an Olympic gold medalist, and has won world
1500 meters championship four times consecutively. And nowadays he hardly loses
any race in 1500 category.
Hicham
El Guerrouj began to practice athletics in 1990 and in 1991 was chosen to train
at the National Institute of Athletics in Rabat, Morocco, with his
current and only coach Abdelkader Kada. He had a 1500 meters pr of 3:51 in 1991
and in 1992 he made his debut at the international level as a member of the
Moroccan junior team for the 1992 world cross country championships, finishing
14th. That September he placed 3rd in the 5000 meters(13:46.79) at the world
junior championships. In 1993 he did not compete because he was injured. During
1994 he took part in international races again, running a 3:33.61 for the 1500
meters.
In 1995 he rose to a higher level by winning the world indoor championships 1500
meters race and getting 2nd place in the 1500 meters at the world championships.
He ran 3:31.16 for the 1500 meters and 3:48.69 for the mile that year. In 1996
he was on an unbeaten streak heading into the olympic 1500 meters final. With
one lap to go in the race he fell and faded to finish last as Noureddine Morceli
won the race, denying Hicham the olympic gold.After getting up and fininshing
race last,he cried right there and with his tears falling he said that i
am gonna defeat Morceli and within few months he didi that . Hicham continued his season
by winning all his next races, which included victories over Morceli and a
3:29.05 1500 meters. Early in the 1997 season he broke the world indoor records
in the 1500 meters and the mile and then won the world indoor championships at
1500 meters. He continued the season by running 3:28.91 for 1500 meters, 3:44.90
for the mile and winning a world championship in the 1500 meters. His only loss
that year came in the grand prix final to Robert Andersen.
1998 was another great year as he ran 3:26.00 for the 1500 meters, setting a
world record. He also ran 3:44.60 for the mile and won the Iaaf Overall GP and
Golden League Jackpot, with no losses that year. 1999 was a very fast year also
as he ran 3:43.13 to break the world record in the mile. Then he won the world
championships at 1500 meters, with a time of 3:27.65, a championship record.
After that he ran a 3000 meter race in 7:23.09, 3 seconds off the world record.
Finally he broke the world record in the 2000 meter race with a 4:44.79. He lost
zero races that year.
The year 2000 was an olympic year and he ran a 3:27.21 1500 meters and 3:45.96
mile that year heading into the olympics. He ran in the olympic 1500 meters
final but was outkicked by a slower rival, Noah Ngeny. Silver in an olympic
final isn't that bad! He started 2001 off by running 8:09.89 in the indoor 2
mile race, barely off the world record. Then he won the 3000 meters world indoor
championships race. His campaign continued as he ran 3:44.95 for the mile, won
the world championships 1500 meters, and ran 3:26.12 for the 1500 meters. He won
the Iaaf male athlete of the year award and was undefeated in 2001.
2002 was another
excellent undefeated year and the highlights included him running 3:26.97 for
the 1500 meters, 3:48.28 for the mile, and winning the Grand Prix Final. He also
won the Iaaf male athlete of the year award and a share of the Golden League
jackpot. In 2003 his lone indoor race was a 8:06.61 two mile, which was 2
seconds slower than the world record. He made his senior track 5000 meters debut
by running a time of 12:50.24 but lost to a suprisingly fast Stephen Cherono. He
won the 1500 meters world championship and took second in the 5000 meters at the
world championships. He dominated the 1500 meters and had a seasons best of
3:28.40. At the end of the season he was sick and withdrew from the World
Athletics Final but won the Iaaf male athlete of the year award for a third
straight time. In September 2003 he won the 1500-meters world athletics
championship for the 3rd consecutive time and took silver medal in
5000-meters .BBC wrote “Hicham El Guerrouj confirmed his status as one of the
all-time greats as he outclassed the opposition to win his fourth consecutive
1500m world title”.
2004 Athens Olympics and
retirement
El
Guerrouj winning the 1500m at the Athens 2004 Olympics. This earned him
his first Olympic gold medal.
After a relatively poor
start to the 2004 season that included slow times and an 8th place finish
in a 1500 meter race in Rome, El Guerrouj won the gold medal in both the
1500 metres and 5000 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Only 20 days before the
Olympic final, 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Bernard Lagat ran the fastest
1500m in 2004 (3:27.40), narrowly defeating El Guerrouj (3.27.64) at the
Weltklasse Zürich meet on August 6. However, on August 24, El Guerrouj
beat Lagat by 0.12 seconds in the Olympic 1500m final, winning the gold
medal.
Four days later El Guerrouj
won the 5,000m final with a time of 13:14.39 preventing Kenenisa Bekele
from achieving the 5000m/10000m distance double, last achieved by
Ethiopian Miruts Yifter in 1980 Moscow Olympics.[
El Guerrouj became then the
first man in 80 years to win both 1500m and 5000m races in the same
Olympics, last achieved by the "Flying Finn" Paavo Nurmi in 1924.
After the Olympics, El
Geurrouj never again competed internationally, and announced his
retirement on May 22, 2006.
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