El Guerrouj, Hicham

▪ 2000

      In 1999 Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj completed his dash to the heights of track-and-field stardom, as he became the first man to hold world-record times in the mile and the 1,500 m, both indoors and outdoors. On July 7 he set the world record in the mile with a time of 3 min 43.13 sec, beating the previous record, set in 1993 by his rival, Noureddine Morceli of Algeria, by 1.26 sec. Only a year after he had smashed Morceli's world record in the 1,500 m with a time of 3 min 26.00 sec, El Guerrouj had to outsprint Kenya's Noah Ngeny, whose second-place time of 3 min 43.40 sec also eclipsed Morceli's old mile mark. Exactly two months later, on September 7, he shattered Morceli's four-year-old world record in the 2,000 m by more than three seconds, with a time of 4 min 44.79 sec. El Guerrouj dominated the middle distances to such an extent that his victory in the 1,500-m event at the outdoor World Championships in Seville, Spain, in August, seemed almost a foregone conclusion.

      El Guerrouj was born Sept. 14, 1974, in Berkane, Mor. As a boy he played soccer, but a teacher persuaded him to take up running at the age of 15. His hero was Said Aouita, the Moroccan who won the gold in the 5,000 m at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. After spending time at Morocco's training center in Rabat, El Guerrouj made his country's junior national team and won a bronze medal in the 5,000 m at the World Junior Championships in 1992. In 1994 he set his sights on the 1,500 m, and early the following year he won the indoor world title. Then he began to chase Morceli, going head-to-head with the Algerian twice—first at the outdoor World Championships in Göteborg, Swed., and again at a meet in Zürich, Switz. Both times, Morceli triumphed, with El Guerrouj finishing second.

      He competed in Morceli's shadow throughout 1995. In 1996 El Guerrouj found himself running second behind his rival with 400 metres to go in the 1,500 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga. As the two runners sprinted toward the finish, El Guerrouj tripped on Morceli's heel and fell. Morceli recovered and won the gold; El Guerrouj, devastated, finished last.

      Later that year, however, the two met again at the Grand Prix Final in Milan, and the Moroccan finally won, outpacing his nemesis by almost a full second. From there, El Guerrouj sped through 1997, losing just one race and setting world records in the indoor 1,500 m (3 min 31.18 sec) and the indoor mile (3 min 48.45 sec), beating a record that had stood since 1983.

Anthony G. Craine

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▪ Moroccan athlete

born September 14, 1974, Berkane, Morocco

 

 Moroccan middle-distance runner, who became the first man to hold world records in the mile and the 1,500-metre races both indoors and outdoors.

      El Guerrouj—inspired by the accomplishments of his countryman Said Aouita, a gold medalist in the 5,000 metres at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics—began running as a teenager. In 1995 he attained the indoor world title in the 1,500 metres. During the mid-1990s he pursued Noureddine Morceli of Algeria, the world's top middle-distance runner and his chief rival. El Guerrouj finished second to Morceli in the 1,500 metres at the 1995 outdoor world championships. The 1,500-metre race at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, was one of the most dramatic contests in athletics history: El Guerrouj was running in the lead with Morceli with 400 metres to go, when the young Moroccan tripped on his rival's heel and fell to the ground. Devastated, El Guerrouj returned to the track but finished last. Later that year, however, he finally caught Morceli, winning the Grand Prix final in Milan.

      In 1997 El Guerrouj lost just one race and set world records in the indoor 1,500 metres (3 min 48 sec) and the indoor mile (3 min 48.45 sec). He continued his record-breaking streak in 1999, setting the world record in the mile (3 min 43.13 sec) and winning the 1,500-metre event at the outdoor world championships. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, he won the silver medal in the 1,500-metre race and then proceeded to win 32 finals, including the world championships in 2001 and 2003. He finally won an Olympic gold medal in the 1,500 metres at the 2004 Games in Athens and then added a second gold with his victory in the 5,000-metre race. He became the first Olympic runner since Paavo Nurmi (Nurmi, Paavo) in 1924 to achieve the 1,500-5,000 double. In 2006 El Guerrouj retired from competitive racing.

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