Guero Gao grew up in the Dosso area of Niger, where he was a recognized long-distance runner. He moved to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
to continue training athletics in an Olympic-prep program he was selected for by Niger's Athletic Federation, as he was a favorite to break Niger's 1500-m national record set by Amadou Dogo in 2008. He competed in highly-varying disciplines from the
800 metres
The 800 metres, or meters ( 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 an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...
to even 10-km road races with athletic club Stade Sottevillais 76 in
Sotteville-lès-Rouen
Sotteville-lès-Rouen (, literally ''Sotteville near Rouen'') is a commune and railway town in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France.
Geography
It is the largest suburb of the city of Rouen and adjacent to it, ...
. On March 11, 2012, Guero Gao finished a
10k run
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
by the Seine, recording a time of 32:30 (min:sec). Results 10km loops of the Seine 2012 11 March 2012 He competed in the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres, men's 1500 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He failed to qualify for the semifinals after not finishing in the top 6 in his heat of round 1. After staying in contact with the lead pack through roughly 500 meters, he faded, but finished strong in 4:05.46, just behind Guinea's Mamadou Barry.