Zouhair Talbi (born 8 April 1995) is a Moroccan born, USA based

long distance runner Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music men ...

Career

Originally from Tighassaline,

Khenifra Khenifra (Berber: ''Xnifṛa'', ⵅⵏⵉⴼⵕⴰ, ar, خنيفرة) is a city in northern central Morocco, surrounded by the Atlas Mountains and located on the Oum Er-Rbia River. National Highway 8 also goes through the town. The population, a ...

, Morocco, he was a keen soccer player before transitioning to distance running as a teenager. After excelling, at the age of 18 years-old he competed in the U20 race at the

2013 World Cross Country Championships The 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2013. The races were held at the Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Kenya topped the medal standings in the competition with 5 gold, and Ethiopia had the most overall ...

in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and placed 14th overall. In 2018, he competed in the Oslo Diamond League event in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, running 28:31 to place 4th in the

10,000m 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 ra ...

. He decided to move to the United States and studied at the

Northwest Kansas Technical College Northwest Kansas Technical College is a public technical college in Goodland, Kansas, United States. The college offers 14 different programs ranging from diesel technology to medical assistant. The college also offers certificates and associate ...

, and then moved to

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

. He was a 2015 World University Games silver medalist. He set a 28:02 personal best in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in 2019. On May 14, 2021, he met the Olympic qualifying standard as he won the 10,000m at the Sound Running Track Meet in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and in doing so improved his personal best from 28:02 to 27:20:61. It was the second-fastest performance ever by a collegiate athlete and ranked No. 7 in the world for the year so far. Displaying a fast finish Talbi was in third with two laps remaining before covering the final 400 meters in 59.41 seconds to beat Emmanuel Bor and

Joe Klecker Joe Klecker (born November 16, 1996) is an American distance runner. He finished 2nd in the NCAA DI XC Championships in 2019 and turned pro with On Running, coached by Dathan Ritzenhein in 2020. Klecker holds PRs of 3:37.55 for 1500m, 7:39.18 for ...

. However, Talbi had to be pulled from the Olympics shortly before the commencement as he had not met the drug testing requirements for an athlete from Morocco. In 2023, he set a new half marathon personal best of 1:01:08 to finish fifth at the 2023 Houston Half Marathon. Later in 2023 Talbi ran 2:08.35 to finish fifth at the Boston Marathon.

References

1995 births Living people Moroccan long-distance runners People from Béni Mellal-Khénifra Florida State Seminoles men's track and field athletes Oklahoma City Stars athletes Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Morocco {{Morocco-athletics-bio-stub