Hicham El Guerrouj (; ; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only man since

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...

to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same

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. El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and, as of October 2024, still holds six of the 10 fastest times ever run in the 1500 m as well as seven of the 15 fastest times in the mile. He and Jakob 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. He won a gold medal in the 1500 m at the

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1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, and 2003

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

. He won the World Athlete of the Year award three times, and in November 2014, was inducted into the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Hall of Fame.

Early life & career

Born in Berkane, 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. 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. El Guerrouj's first international triumph was at age 18, when he came third in the 5000 metres of the 1992 Junior World Championships in Seoul, behind Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Ismael Kirui of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. 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 1500 metres 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

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, he was considered one of the favourites for the Olympic

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1996 Atlanta Olympics – 1999 season

El Guerrouj competed in his first Olympic Games in 1996 at

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. 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

, and 2003. 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. He also set a new indoor world record of 3:48.45 in the mile run at the Indoor Flanders meeting a few weeks later, which stood until Yomif Kejelcha bettered the mark in 2019. 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. 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. In 1999, also in Rome, El Guerrouj broke the world record in the

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. This was the first time in over 40 years that two men had bettered the mile world record in the same race, neither of which have been broken in a quarter of a century. 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, that has since been broken by Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who ran 4:43.13 in 2023. In 1999 El Guerrouj also ran what was then the second fastest 3000 m ever in

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, with a time of 7:23.09.

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). As of 2011 he was 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 5000 metres, 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 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 ...

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, Greece. Only 20 days before the Olympic final, 2000 Olympic bronze medalist

Bernard Lagat Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American former Middle-distance running, middle and long-distance running, long-distance runner. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his List of eligibility transfers in at ...

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. 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"

in 1924. On 16 May 2005, El Guerrouj was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year. 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.

Awards and honors

His sporting career is marked by numerous recognitions such as the award for humanitarian effort from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which he received in 1996. He is also a

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status, and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and activists, advocates who are designated by the United Nations. The UNICEF, ...

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

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 The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...

. He was a member of the International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission from 2004 to 2012. Hicham El Guerrouj is today an Ambassador for

Peace and Sport Peace and Sport (also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport") is a sports organization based in Monaco under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Ivorian Football player, footballer Didier Drogba became the organization's ...

, 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.

Personal life

During the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, after his devastating fall in the 1500 metres final, El Guerrouj received a call from King Hassan II, then the King of Morocco. Hassan II said to El Guerrouj: In response to this call, El Guerrouj later reflected: On 27 September 2003, El Guerrouj married Najoua Lahbil. They have a daughter named Hiba. El Guerrouj is an admirer of Roger 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 in Oxford, England. In 2019, he also attended the World Athletics Heritage Mile Night in Monaco, which was organized by Sebastian Coe. In 2024, reflecting on the differences between the mile and 1500 metres, El Guerrouj stated the following: El Guerrouj attended the opening ceremony of the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, and was also a torchbearer. He also attended the 2024 Wanda Diamond League Final in

on 13 September, where he greeted Jakob Ingebrigtsen at the finish line of the 1500 m.

International competitions

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: 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 Sportspeople from Oriental (Morocco) Moroccan male middle-distance runners Moroccan male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for 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 Moroccan 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 sportsmen 21st-century Moroccan people