Seltana Aït Hammou (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: سلطانة آيت حمو; born 21 May 1980) is a Moroccan

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

who specialises in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

. She represented her country at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

and has also competed at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

and the

IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

. She has also been the gold medallist at number of major events including the

2001 Mediterranean Games The XIV Mediterranean Games (), commonly known as the 2001 Mediterranean Games, were the 14th Mediterranean Games held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 2–15 September 2001, where 2,991 athletes (1,972 men and 1,019 women) from 23 countries participated. ...

, the

2003 Military World Games The 2003 Military World Games was an international multi-sport event for military personnel which was held in Catania, Italy from 4–11 December 2003. It was the third edition of the Military World Games, competition organised by the Conseil In ...

, the 2007 Pan Arab Games and the

2009 Jeux de la Francophonie 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

. She received a one-year ban from the sport of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

in 2008 for missing three doping tests. She is the sister of Mina Aït Hammou, another successful Moroccan middle-distance athlete.

Career

Born in

Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...

, she made her first international appearance for Morocco at the 1998 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she was sixtieth in the long race. She was twelfth in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

at the

1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 1998 edition of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Annecy, France from July 28 to August 2. Results Men 1 Ahmed Baday of Morocco originally won the bronze medal ...

and competed in the junior race at the

1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 27 and 28 March 1999. The races were held at the List of parks and gardens in Belfast, Barnett Demesne/Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Playing Fields in Belfast, United ...

.Aït Hammou Seltana

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2010-07-26. He first junior honours came at the

1999 African Junior Athletics Championships The 1999 African Junior Athletics Championships was the fourth edition of the biennial, continental athletics (sport), athletics tournament for African athletes aged junior athletics, 19 years or younger. It was held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 22–2 ...

, at which she won the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run 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 Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

silver behind Jeruto Kiptum. She convinced her older sister Mina Aït Hammou to switch from

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

to athletics, which led to much success for the pair. The younger Seltana was the first to win international medals as she became the 800 m champion at the

. The following year she took fifth place at the

2002 African Championships in Athletics The 13th African Championships in Athletics were held in Tunis and Radès, Tunisia in August, 2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a maj ...

and won the 800 m gold and

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

silver medal at the 2002 Africa Military Games. Aït Hammou competed on the world track stage for the first time at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the streets of Paris and the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, F ...

, and she came close to reaching the 800 m final, finishing third in her semi-final (in which her sister won and went on to take fourth in the final). She closed the year at the

and became the 800 m gold medallist at the event. Her first major indoor competition came in the form of the

2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004. A total off 139 countries were r ...

and she reached the semi-finals, finishing fifth. Her first Olympics also came that year at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

and she again reached the global level semi-finals, but she and her sister suffered the same fate of being eliminated at that stage. Her other large competition that year was the

2004 Pan Arab Games The 10th Arab Games was an international multi-sport event which took place in Algiers, Algeria, from 24 September to 10 October 2004. It witnessed the participation of all Arab League members for the first time – 22 countries participated in 26 ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, where she won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

. She ran at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics (, ), under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first ...

, failing to make it past the heats, but she scored an 800/1500 m double at the 2005 Jeux de la Francophonie at the end of the year. Aït Hammou won the 1500 m

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the 2007 Pan Arab Games, and also joined her sister in the Moroccan team to win the silver in the 4×400 metres relay. After being eliminated in the semi-finals at the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008. Bid Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Rus ...

she was preparing to compete at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. This was not to be, however, as both she and her sister were banned from competition by the

for missing three out of competition doping tests between June 2007 and May 2008, resulting in a year-long ban from the sport. She returned at the end of the 2009 season and competed at the

. She won the 800 m gold and also took 1500 m bronze in a closely run Moroccan sweep of the event, with Btissam Lakhouad and Siham Hilali the other medallists.Livre de résultats – Athlétisme
.

(2009). Retrieved on 2010-07-26.

Personal bests

* All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ait Hammou, Seltana 1980 births Living people Moroccan female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Morocco Moroccan sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Sportspeople from Kenitra World Athletics Championships athletes for Morocco Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Morocco Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2001 Mediterranean Games 20th-century Moroccan women 20th-century Moroccan people 21st-century Moroccan sportswomen

Career

Personal bests

See also

References

External links