Hicham El Guerrouj ( ar, هشام الݣروج, Hishām l-Garrūj; ber, ⵀⵉⵛⴰⵎ ⴻⵍ ⴳⴻⵔⵔⵓⵊ, Hisham El Gerruj; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

holder of the outdoor

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

, mile, and

2000 metres The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles. The global governing body World Ath ...

events. He also held indoor world records for the mile and 1500 metres until 2019, and is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to earn a gold medal in both the

and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

at the same

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. El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and is also viewed as one of the greatest athletes of all time. El Guerrouj has also won the world championship in the 1500 meters six times: four consecutive times outdoors in 1997,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, and

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and two times indoors in 1995 and 1997 and has won the World Athlete of the Year awards three times. He holds seven of the 10 fastest times ever run in the 1500 metres and in the mile. In November 2014, he was inducted into the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(IAAF) Hall of Fame.

Early career

Born in

Berkane Berkane ( ber, translit=Berkane, ⴱⴻⵔⴽⴰⵏ) is a city in northeastern Morocco, in the tribal area of Aït Iznasen, limited by the Mediterranean to the north, the Kis river (Moroccan- Algerian border) and Oujda Province in the east, Nado ...

, Hicham El Guerrouj's first international triumph was at age 18, when he was third in the

of the 1992 Junior World Championships in Seoul, behind Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Ismael Kirui of

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. A year later, he was the #2 man on the Moroccan team at the World Junior Cross Country Championships. In 1994, he was a member of the Moroccan team in the 1994 IAAF World Road Relay Championships, which won the race in world record time. El Guerrouj rose to international prominence in the mid-1990s with near-record times in the

and mile. At the age of 20 he finished second in the 1500 metres to then world record holder Noureddine Morceli at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In 1996 after setting a new personal best in the 1500 metres of 3:29.59 in Stockholm, he was considered one of the favourites for the Olympic

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

1996 Atlanta Olympics – 1999 season

El Guerrouj competed in his first Olympic Games in 1996 at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. Running the 1500 metres final, as he was moving into position to challenge for the lead, 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-time World champion, Noureddine Morceli. 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. In the following years, El Guerrouj became the only middle distance runner to win four consecutive world titles in 1997,

, and

. El Guerrouj set two world indoor records at the start of the 1997 season, starting with a 1500 m record of 3:31.18 at the Sparkassen Cup, which was not beaten until 22 years later, in 2019 by

Samuel Tefera Samuel Tefera (born 23 October 1999) is an Ethiopian middle distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. At the age of 18, he became the 2018 World indoor champion, and defended his title at the 2022 World Indoor Championships, setting ...

. He also set a new indoor best of 3:48.45 in the mile run at the Indoor Flanders meeting a few weeks later. In 1998 in

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, El Guerrouj broke Morceli's 1500 m world record (3:27.37) with a time of 3:26.00. In 1999, also in Rome, El Guerrouj broke the world record in the mile set by Noureddine Morceli in 1993, with a time of 3:43.13. Noah Ngeny of Kenya, who ran second, was also under the previous world record with a time of 3:43.40. This was the first time in over 40 years that two men had bettered the mile world record in the same race. Later that season he set a new world record over 2000 m in

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at 4:44.79, bettering the previous mark set by Morceli by more than three seconds. He also ran the second fastest 3000 m ever in

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2000 Sydney Olympics – 2003 season

At the Sydney Olympics, El Guerrouj was favourite to take gold but finished second in the 1500 metres, behind Noah 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. El Guerrouj successfully defended his 1500 m title in the

and 2003 World Championships and came close to breaking his own 1500 m record in

in 2001 with a time of 3:26.12. He also won 3 consecutive IAAF Golden League prizes in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He was the only middle distance athlete to produce the winning streak necessary to be entitled for a share of the jackpot of 50 kilograms (1,608 troy ounces) of

(2000–2002) or US$1 million (1998–1999, 2003–present). He remains the only athlete to have won it three times in a row. In 2003, El Guerrouj set a personal best of 12:50.24 in the

, which is the 26th fastest ever in the event. Later in the year, at the World Track & Field Championships, he finished a close second to Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge in the 5000 metres, adding a silver to the gold he had previously won in the 1500 metres.

2004 Athens Olympics and retirement

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 the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

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. Only 20 days before the Olympic final, 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Bernard Lagat ran the fastest 1500 m in 2004 (3:27.40), narrowly defeating El Guerrouj (3:27.64) at the Weltklasse 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. Four days later, El Guerrouj won the 5,000 m final with a time of 13:14.39, preventing Kenenisa Bekele from achieving the 5000 m/10000 m distance double, last achieved by Ethiopian Miruts Yifter in

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. 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. Having fulfilled his sporting ambitions, El Guerrouj never competed internationally again and announced his retirement on May 22, 2006.

Awards and honors

His sporting career is marked by numerous recognitions such as the award to humanitarian effort from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which he received in 1996. He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. El Guerrouj was named IAAF 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 journal '' Track and Field News'' in 2002. In 2003, he was elected as a member of the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

Athletes Committee. On September 7, 2004, El Guerrouj was decorated with the "Cordon de Commandeur" by King Mohammed VI of Morocco. In the same year, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Awards. He was a member of the

International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission (IOC AC) is a majority elected body that serves as a link between athletes and the IOC. The mission of the IOC AC is to ensure that athletes' viewpoint remains at the heart of the Olympic Movemen ...

from 2004 to 2012. Hicham El Guerrouj is today an Ambassador for Peace and Sport, a

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-based international organization, 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.

International competitions

IAAF Grand Prix performances

*1997 **Stuttgart: 3:31.18 indoor 1500 m **Gand: 3:48.45 indoor mile *1998 ** Golden Gala: 3:26.00 1500 m *1999 ** Golden Gala: 3:43.13 mile **

1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final The 1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the fifteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 11 September at the Olymp ...

: 4:44.79 2000 metres

Personal bests

The following table includes El Guerrouj's personal best times as published by the IAAF:

Awards

* World Athlete of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003 *

Track & Field News Athlete of the Year The ''Track & Field News'' Athlete of the Year award is given to track and field athletes by ''Track & Field News'' magazine, an American sports magazine. A panel of international track and field experts organized by the magazine selects the winne ...

: 1999, 2001, 2002 * L'Équipe Champion of Champions: 2005 * IAAF Hall of Fame: 2014

References and notes

External links

Video of Hicham El Guerrouj breaking the mile world record

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guerrouj, Hicham 1974 births Living people People from Berkane Moroccan male middle-distance runners Moroccan male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Morocco Olympic gold medalists for Morocco Olympic silver medalists for Morocco Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Morocco World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics record holders International Olympic Committee members Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics indoor record holders IAAF Golden League winners Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Moroccan people 21st-century Moroccan people