 El Guerrouj in 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1974-09-14)14 September 1974 (age 51)[1] |
| Height | 176 cm (5 ft 9 in)[2] |
| Weight | 58 kg (128 lb)[2] |
| Sport | |
| Country | Morocco |
| Sport | Track |
Event(s) | 1500 metres,mile,2000 metres,5000 metres |
| Turned pro | 1994 |
| Retired | 2004 |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Olympic finals | 1996 Atlanta 1500 m, 12th 2000 Sydney 1500 m  Silver2004 Athens 1500 m  Gold5000 m Gold |
| World finals | 1995 Göteborg 1500 m Silver1997 Athens 1500 m Gold1999 Seville 1500 m Gold2001 Edmonton 1500 m Gold2003 Paris 1500 m Gold5000 m Silver |
| Personalbests | |
Medal record | |
Hicham El Guerrouj (Arabic:هشام الݣروج;Berber languages:ⵀⵉⵛⴰⵎ ⵍⴳⵔⵔⵓⵊ,romanized: Hisham El Gerruj; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccanmiddle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the currentworld record holder for the1500 metres andmile,[3] and the former world record holder in the2000 metres. He is the only man sincePaavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and5000 metres at the sameOlympic Games.
El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history[4][5][6] and, as of October 2024, still holds six of the 10 fastest times ever run in the 1500 m[7] as well as seven of the 15 fastest times in the mile.[8] He andJakob Ingebrigtsen are the only men in history to have broken both 3:27 in the 1500 m and 3:44 in the mile. El Guerrouj remains the only man in history to have broken 3:27 in the 1500 m more than once, having done so five times.[9][10]
He won a gold medal in the 1500 m at the1997,1999,2001, and2003World Athletics Championships. He won theWorld Athlete of the Year award three times,[7][8] and in November 2014, was inducted into theInternational Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)Hall of Fame.[11]
Born inBerkane, Hicham El Guerrouj comes from a family of farmers. He initially pursued soccer and basketball in his sporting endeavors, but his spark in the sport of athletics came at the age of 13, when a local coach recognized his talent and encouraged him to pursue the sport.[12] According to El Guerrouj, his urban upbringing and close proximity to a sports stadium allowed him to watch athletics competitions often, fueling his passion for running.[13]
El Guerrouj's first international triumph was at age 18, when he came third in the5000 metres of the1992 Junior World Championships in Seoul, behindHaile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia andIsmael Kirui ofKenya. A year later, he was the #2 man on the Moroccan team at theWorld Junior Cross Country Championships.[citation needed]
In 1994, he was a member of the Moroccan team in the1994 IAAF World Road Relay Championships, which won the race in world record time.[14]
El Guerrouj rose to international prominence in the mid-1990s with near-record times in the1500 metres and mile. At the age of 20 he finished second in the 1500 metres to then world record holderNoureddine Morceli at the1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In 1996 after setting a new personal best in the 1500 metres of 3:29.59 inStockholm, he was considered one of the favourites for theOlympicgold.[citation needed]
El Guerrouj competed in his first Olympic Games in 1996 atAtlanta. Running the 1500 metres final, as he was moving into position to challenge for the lead,[15] he fell with 400 m to go and finished last in 12th place. He had been expected to challenge the world record holder and three-timeWorld champion,Noureddine Morceli.[16][17]
One month later, at the Grand Prix final in Milan, El Guerrouj became the first runner to defeat Morceli over 1500 m in four years.[18] In the following years, El Guerrouj became the only middle distance runner to win four consecutiveworld titles in1997,[19]1999,[20]2001, and2003.[21]
El Guerrouj set twoworld indoor records at the start of the 1997 season, starting with a 1500 m record of 3:31.18 at theSparkassen Cup, which was not beaten until 22 years later, in 2019 bySamuel Tefera. He also set a new indoor world record of 3:48.45 in the mile run at theIndoor Flanders meeting a few weeks later, which stood untilYomif Kejelcha bettered the mark in 2019.[citation needed]
In 1998 inRome, El Guerrouj broke Morceli's 1500 m world record (3:27.37) with a time of 3:26.00. With an average pace of 54.93 seconds per lap, this record still stands today, and is the first performance in the 1500 m where the pace averaged under 55 seconds per lap.[22][23][24][25]
In 1999, also in Rome, El Guerrouj broke the world record in themile set by Morceli in 1993, with a time of 3:43.13, completing the first 1500 metres in 3:28.21.Noah Ngeny of Kenya, who ran second, was also under the previous world record with a time of 3:43.40, which remains the second place world record to this day.[26] This was the first time in over 40 years that two men had bettered the mile world record in the same race,[27] neither of which have been broken in a quarter of a century.
Later that season he set a new world record over2000 m inBerlin at 4:44.79, bettering the previous mark set by Morceli by more than three seconds, that has since been broken byJakob Ingebrigtsen, who ran 4:43.13 in 2023.[28] In 1999 El Guerrouj also ran what was then the second fastest3000 m ever inBrussels, with a time of 7:23.09.[citation needed]
At theSydney Olympics, El Guerrouj was favourite to take gold but finished second in the 1500 metres, behindNoah Ngeny, a talented Kenyan runner at the peak of his career who had run as El Guerrouj's pacemaker when El Guerrouj ran his 1500m world record in Rome in 1998.[29][30][31]
El Guerrouj successfully defended his 1500 m title in the2001 and2003 World Championships and came close to breaking his own 1500 m record inBrussels in 2001 with a time of 3:26.12. He also won 3 consecutiveIAAF Golden League prizes in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He was the onlymiddle distance athlete to produce the winning streak necessary to be entitled for a share of the jackpot of 50 kilograms (1,608 troy ounces) ofgold (2000–2002) or US$1 million (1998–1999, 2003–present). As of 2011 he was the only athlete to have won it three times in a row.[32]
In 2003, El Guerrouj set a personal best of 12:50.24 in the5000 metres, which is the 26th fastest ever in the event. Later in the year, at theWorld Track & Field Championships, he finished a close second to KenyanEliud Kipchoge in the 5000 metres, adding a silver to the gold he had previously won in the 1500 metres.[citation needed]
After a relatively poor start to the 2004 season that included slow times and an 8th-place finish in a 1500-metre race in Rome, El Guerrouj entered both the 1500 metres and the 5000 metres at the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens, Greece.[citation needed]
Only 20 days before the Olympic final, 2000 Olympic bronze medalistBernard Lagat ran the fastest 1500 m in 2004 (3:27.40), narrowly defeating El Guerrouj (3:27.64) at theWeltklasse Zürich meet on August 6. On August 24, in the final straight of the Olympic 1500m final, El Guerrouj beat Lagat by 0.12 seconds, winning the gold medal. In the finale, entering the home straight El Guerrouj led, only to be overtaken by Lagat- and then El Guerrouj re-took the lead a few strides from the line.[33]
Four days later, El Guerrouj won the 5,000 m final with a time of 13:14.39, preventingKenenisa Bekele from achieving the 5000 m/10000 m distance double, last achieved by EthiopianMiruts Yifter in1980 Moscow Olympics.[34]
El Guerrouj became the first man in 80 years to win both 1500m and 5000m titles in the same Olympics, previously achieved only by the "Flying Finn"Paavo Nurmi in 1924.[citation needed]
On 16 May 2005, El Guerrouj was nominated for theLaureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year.[35][36]
Having fulfilled his sporting ambitions & due to injuries from his years of high intensity training, El Guerrouj never competed internationally again after the 2004 Olympics and announced his retirement on May 22, 2006.[37][38]
His sporting career is marked by numerous recognitions such as the award forhumanitarian effort fromthe International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which he received in 1996. He is also aUNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. El Guerrouj was namedIAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2001, 2002 and 2003 after remaining unbeaten in more than 20 races, becoming the first man to win the award in consecutive years. He was also named best athlete of the year by the athletics journalTrack and Field News in 2002. In 2003, he was elected as a member of theIAAF Athletes Committee.[citation needed]
On September 7, 2004, El Guerrouj was decorated with the "Cordon de Commandeur" byKing Mohammed VI of Morocco. In the same year, he was awarded thePrince of Asturias Awards.[39][40]
He was a member of theInternational Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission from 2004 to 2012.[citation needed]
Hicham El Guerrouj is today an Ambassador forPeace and Sport, aMonaco-based international organization,[41] as well as a member of its "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport.
During the1996 Summer Olympics, after his devastating fall in the1500 metres final, El Guerrouj received a call fromKing Hassan II, then theKing of Morocco. Hassan II said to El Guerrouj:[42]
"Do not cry. You are a champion in the eyes of the Moroccan people."
In response to this call, El Guerrouj later reflected:[43]
"After the call by His Majesty, it was another el-Guerrouj who was born. 'There is no similarity to the el-Guerrouj before this call and the el-Guerrouj right now."
— Hicham El Guerrouj
On 27 September 2003, El Guerrouj married Najoua Lahbil.[44] They have a daughter named Hiba.[45]
El Guerrouj is an admirer ofRoger Bannister, whom he considers to be his "spiritual father". El Guerrouj met Bannister in 2000, and attended a 70 year anniversary event of Bannister's first sub-four minute mile on 6 May 2024 inOxford, England.[46][47] In 2019, he also attended the World Athletics Heritage Mile Night in Monaco, which was organized bySebastian Coe.[48]
In 2024, reflecting on the differences between the mile and 1500 metres, El Guerrouj stated the following:[49]
"My favourite is 1500m. It's part of my heart. I competed in it a lot and I know every metre of this race. The mile is completely different. If you are not strong physically and mentally, you cannot run it well."
— Hicham El Guerrouj
El Guerrouj attended the opening ceremony of the2024 Summer Olympics, and was also a torchbearer.[50] He also attended the 2024 WandaDiamond League Final inBrussels on 13 September, where he greetedJakob Ingebrigtsen at the finish line of the 1500 m.[51]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Morocco | |||||
| 1992 | World Junior Championships | Seoul, South Korea | 3rd | 5000 m | 13:46.79 |
| 1995 | World Indoor Championships | Barcelona, Spain | 1st | 1500 m | 3:44.54 |
| World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 2nd | 1500 m | 3:35.28 | |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 12th | 1500 m | 3:40.75 |
| 1997 | World Indoor Championships | Paris, France | 1st | 1500 m | 3:35.31 |
| World Championships | Athens, Greece | 1st | 1500 m | 3:35.83 | |
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | 1st | 1500 m | 3:27.65CR |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 2nd | 1500 m | 3:32.32 |
| 2001 | World Indoor Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 1st | 3000 m | 7:37.74 |
| World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | 1st | 1500 m | 3:30.68 | |
| 2003 | World Championships | Paris, France | 1st | 1500 m | 3:31.77 |
| 2nd | 5000 m | 12:52.83 | |||
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 1st | 1500 m | 3:34.18 |
| 1st | 5000 m | 13:14.39 | |||
The following table includes El Guerrouj's personal best times as published by the IAAF:[52]
| Distance | Time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 800 metres | 1:47.18 | 2 June 1995 | Turin | |
| 1000 metres | 2:16.85 | 12 July 1995 | Nice | |
| 1500 metres | 3:26.00 | 14 July 1998 | Rome | WR |
| Indoor 1500 metres | 3:31.18 | 2 February 1997 | Stuttgart | 3rd all time |
| Mile | 3:43.13 | 7 July 1999 | Rome | WR |
| Indoor mile | 3:48.45 | 12 February 1997 | Ghent | 3rd all time |
| 2000 metres | 4:44.79 | 7 September 1999 | Berlin | 2nd all time |
| 3000 metres | 7:23.09 | 3 September 1999 | Brussels | 4th all time |
| Indoor 3000 metres | 7:33.73 | 23 February 2003 | Liévin | |
| Indoor2 miles | 8:06.61 | 23 February 2003 | 9th all time | |
| 5000 metres | 12:50.24 | 12 March 2003 | Ostrava | |
| Ekiden | 1:57:56 | 17 April 1994 | Litochoro |
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Men's 1500 m World Record Holder July 14, 1998 – | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Men's Mile World Record Holder July 7, 1999 – | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Men'sTrack & Field News Athlete of the Year 1999 2001, 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | IAAF World Athlete of the Year 2001 – 2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | L'Équipe Champion of Champions 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Men's 3000 m Best Year Performance 1999 2003 | Succeeded by |
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World Indoor Champions in men's1500 metres | |
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World Indoor Champions in men's3000 metres | |
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