El Guerroujdigs deep to claim his gold medals
Hicham El Guerrouj had gone to Athens with four world titles and the world records for both the 1,500m and the mile everything but an Olympic gold medal. That medal would assure his place in history as the greatest mile/1,500m runner of all time, for it is unlikely that his achievements will ever be equalled.
Twice previously he had gone to the Olympic Games as favourite for the 1,500m title but both efforts ended in tears.
As a 21-year-old in Atlanta he was heir apparent to the great Algerian, Noureddine Morceli, and he appeared to have the gold medal at his mercy when he loomed menacingly at the end of the penultimate lap of a thrilling final. But when they geared up to launch the onslaught on the final lap, legs became entangled and El Guerrouj fell flat on his face. Morceli was his way to the gold medal and the defending champion, Fermin Cacho, jumped over El Guerrouj to claim the silver. The young Moroccan finished last.
He broke down in tears and sobbed his way through the mixed zone as journalists tried to extract the words from him.
When he went back to Morocco he hung a newspaper picture of that finish in his bedroom and for four years he stared at it long and hard every day. He went back running; he won world titles and he set world records but that picture haunted him.
Older and wiser, he prepared for the Sydney Olympics and, en route, he set the world records and claimed world titles but he arrived at the Olympic Village with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“When I arrived here today I was crying and my coach had to calm me down,” he told us, but nobody paid any attention. He was the heir apparent. Subsequently, the pressure was reflected in what was the worst tactical race of his career. He lost out by fractions of a second to the talented Kenyan, Noah Ngeny, whom he had beaten a dozen times on the way to the Olympics.
The lead up-to Athens 2004 would be so much different. In fact there was a period when it appeared almost certain he would not make a third Olympic appearance.
There was a whole succession of poor performances. When he launched his pre-Olympic campaign at the Golden Gala in Rome on July 2 he could only finish a poor eighth behind Rashid Ramzi from Burundi, and this was the meet where he had set the world record in 1998. It was only after that he revealed that he was suffering from allergy-induced asthma which had disrupted his training throughout the critical early part of the year.
As the season progressed, however, he began to show signs of his old self. He promised that if he could run 3:30 or better for 1,500m he would go to Athens. He ran 3:29.18 on July 31.
This time he would not arrive at the Olympics as favourite. Bernard Lagat highlighted his claim to the gold medal when he beat El Guerrouj in a closely fought finish at the Weltklasse in Zurich on the eve of the Games but the margin was tight enough to indicate that it was going to be a very close renewal in Athens.
They did not disappoint on that humid night of August 24. Every fan in the packed Olympic Stadium stood, watched, applauded and cheered them on in amazement as the pair sprinted shoulder to shoulder down the finishing straight. Lagat edged ahead with 40 metres remaining. The gold medal was in his grasp. Then came the supreme effort from El Guerrouj. He inched his way to the front again and then held on in sensational fashion the most exciting finish so far to an Olympic event.
There was the wide-eyed look of disbelief and then relief as he watched the replay of the finish on the big screen. There was that little dance and more tears, but this time they were tears of joy.
He buried his face in his hands, fell to the track and sobbed. Lagat dragged himself off the track to embrace him and congratulate him.
“He was only missing one thing, the Olympic gold medal,” Lagat said. “I was really happy for him. You know he’s deserving and he got it today.”
The new Olympic 1,500m champion cradled his baby daughter, Hiba, in his arms and dedicated his victory to her and to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, the man who had telephoned him after the disaster in Atlanta and told him: “For the Moroccan people you are the Olympic champion. Do not feel under pressure. Forget about this.”
Hicham El Guerrouj went to Athens without an Olympic gold medal but he would leave with two. He had decided to double up once again, repeating his futile double attempt at 1,500m and 5,000m at the world championships in Paris the previous year. Once again in the final he was pitted against the sensational young Algerian, Kenenisa Bekele, and the young Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge, who was just 18 years of age when he sprinted to victory in that 5,000m final Paris.
It was less than five days since he’d had to dig deep for 1,500m victory and it was felt that the effort might have taken the edge off El Guerrouj. After all he had missed valuable base work through illness early in the year.
Bekele, the new world record holder, went into the race buoyant after his victory in the 10,000m final, while Kipchoge had proven 12 months earlier as an 18-year-old that he had the talent.
The blistering sprint between the three was equal to the 1,500m finish and, once again, El Guerrouj was the victor. He became the first athlete since the legendary Flying Finn, Paavo Nurmi, in 1924 to complete this particular double at the Olympic Games.
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