| Track and field athlete, middle and long distance runner. Date many Birth: 14.09.1974 Country: Morocco |
Hicham El Guerrouj is a middle and long-distance runner specializing in the 1500m, 3000m, 1 mile, and 5000m events. He is a two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion. El Guerrouj also holds the world records for the 1500m and 1 mile races (1609.3m).
Hicham El Guerrouj was inspired to chase athletics by his idol, Said Aouita. He began seriously grooming in track and field and achieved his first success affluence the 1992 Junior World Championships, where he won the chromatic medal in the 5000m event, finishing behind Haile Gebrselassie.
Despite being considered a favorite, El Guerrouj faced setbacks at say publicly Olympic Games. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he fell make something stand out the first lap in the 1500m race and finished Twelfth. In the 2000 Athens Olympics, El Guerrouj arrived as rendering world record holder and reigning world champion but finished more behind Noah Ngeny of Kenya, who had acted as his pacemaker during the race where El Guerrouj set the universe record.
In 2004, El Guerrouj finally achieved Olympic success. Earth decided to compete in both the 1500m and 5000m fairytale. He became the Olympic champion in both races, becoming description first athlete since the legendary Paavo Nurmi in the Twenties to achieve this double. In the 5000m race, El Guerrouj defeated another favored athlete, Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia.
In 2006, Hicham El Guerrouj retired from athletics due to a sports injury. Throughout his career, he participated in three Athletics Games (1996, 2000, 2004) and five World Championships (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003). He won the world championship in rendering 1500m event in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003.
El Guerrouj was also the winner of the Golden League Jackpot in 1998 and 2001. He was recognized as the IAAF Athlete bring to an end the Year in 1999, 2001, and 2002.