Hicham El Guerrouj's Winning Streak Comes to An End He
Finishes 8th in Rome by Michael Bautista (editor's
note: Michael Bautista is the webmaster at kingofthemile.com,
the website dedicated to Hicham El Gueerouj. Below is Bautista's
recap of yesterday's race. You should check out his website as it
is a great resource. It has a detailed list of every
race Guerrouj has run, and you can see how incredible his exploits
are) July 2, 2004
Date Location Distance Time Place 7-2-2004
Rome 1500 3:32.64 8 Hicham El Guerrouj finished in a suprising eighth place
in the 1500m in today's Rome Golden Gala meeting. Hicham El Guerrouj started
the race by following the pacemarkers through 400m(55.56), 800m(1:52.60), and
up to 1000m. After that Hicham took over but as the bell for the last
lap sounded ... Mehdi Baala of France sped past El Guerrouj to take
the lead! Bernard Lagat of Kenya and Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain stayed in
close contention on the last lap. Hicham tried to overtake Mehdi and got
close to him with 250m to go but couldn't advance any further. He tried
to pass Baala on the final bend but his finishing burst wasn't there.
He was poorly positioned coming off the final bend and had nowhere to
move when he tried to launch his finishing kick. With 60 meters left
Hicham slowed down and was passed by many racers, eventually finishing in
8th place. Up in the front Bernard Lagat passed Mehdi Baala but Rashid
Ramzi of Bahrain was still nearby. He burst between Lagat and Baala,
with Lagat taking the brunt of his move, and won the race! He left an
angry Lagat, suprised Baala, and disappointed El Guerrouj in his wake.
Rashid clocked a personal record 3:30.25 for 1500 meters to defeat Hicham
El Guerrouj, Bernard Lagat, Mehdi Baala, and many more talented racers
in an astonishing Golden League event, in which ten runners finished
in 3:32 or faster!
Rashid used to compete for Morocco but switched
nationalities to Bahrain in 2002. He also was a former training partner of
Hicham, but now seems to be out of the shadow of El Guerrouj. He was recently
second place at this years World Indoor Championships 800m race. He also
holds the fastest time in the world this year in the 1500m, 3:31.87, which he
set in a meeting in Alger 8 days ago. He improved on that performance
today with this victory. His previous best time in the metric mile before
this year was 3:39.30, so the 23 year old has shown massive improvements.
It is unclear whether or not Rashid Ramzi will compete in the
Athens Olympics. He has previously in past years represented Morocco
in competitions. The International Olympic Committee's regulations
may disallow him to compete in Athens, similar to the situation of
Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar(formerly Stephen Cherono of Kenya). You
may remember that Shaheen defeated Hicham El Guerrouj in the 2003
Ostrava 5000 meters race by running 12:48, under the Kenyan name of
Stephen Cherono. He then switched nationalities from Kenya to Qatar in
August 2003. He won the gold medal at the 2003 World Championships
3000m steeplechase but was then denied access to compete in the
Athens Olympics by the Kenyan Federation and/or the IOC. A similar
situation could occur with Rashid Ramzi, but he says he's preparing for
the Olympic Games.
Hicham El Guerrouj had won 26 straight 1500m races
before today's competition, now the streak has been broken. He has only lost
in the 1500m, Mile, or 2000m three times from 1996 until today. The first
loss came in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics 1500m final when with a lap to go
he and Noureddine Morceli of Algeria collided. Hicham fell, got up,
and finished in 12th place while Morceli won the race. The next loss came
in the 1997 Grand Prix final's mile race. The race was slow and
tactical, which allowed Robert Andersen, the Kenyan born racer for Denmark,
to barely outsprint Hicham in the end. The next loss came in the
2000 Sydney Olympics 1500m final when in the final 100 meters Noah Ngeny
of Kenya burst past Hicham to take the gold medal. Hicham has won his
last three 1500m races before this by margins of .03, .04, and .05 so he
has definetely been challenged but up until now he has always come out
the victor. Hicham El Guerrouj said before the today that this race would
be the real start to his season, even though he won a 1500m race
in Zaragoza, Spain, last month. He also expressed the reasons he barely
won in Zaragoza, in a relatively slow time for him. He said that it
was because he became the father of a child, Hiba, just a few days prior
and that made him less focused. He slept on the hospital room floor with
his wife Najoua Lahbil and his daughter. He then went to Spain but
instead of preparing for the race he was preparing for his daughters
christening and also during the race he wasn't focused as he usually is. He
came out the victor in Zaragova anyway but Rome appears to be a different
story.
Hicham was not alone in defeats today as Ana Guevara lost the
womens 400m race. Hicham and Ana hold the two current longest winning
streaks in athletics before today ended. Ana lost the 400m for the first
time since 2001 and her defeat came only ten short minutes before
Hicham's. The crowd in the Rome Olympic stadium was dealt two major shocks
within ten minutes at two of the sports biggest stars came crashing
down.
Quotes from Hicham El Guerrouj "I don't know what happened. I
haven't got my rhythm yet. That race has given me more desire to train hard."
He also said that pushing and shoving late in the race made it feel like a
"boxing match" but that he ultimately he lost to younger legs. He also said
he would race the 1500m in the Athletissima meet on July 6th in Laussane
before heading home to Morocco to finish his Olympic training.(He also has
scheduled races in Stockholm, London, and Zurich.)
Quotes from Rashid
Ramzi "I was not expecting to win but I have the best time of the season.
The presence of El Guerrouj, Baala, and Lagat gave me the chance to do
this. After this race, we can say that my mental preparation is 100
percent, but it's too early to say for my physical condition. This victory is
the result of hard work. I will continue to work in the same way plus I
will do a bit more speed work. I'm surprised by what happened to
Hicham because he is a great champion."
Quotes from Mehdi Baala "I
have no regrets, I beat Hicham. I wasn't in great shape, it was hot and the
conditions were difficult. I expected Hicham to perform better. He knows he's
the best but maybe that put pressure on him and
stressed him."
Personal note from www.kingofthemile.com webmaster Michael
Bautista "Hicham El Guerrouj did indeed suffer a rare and unfortunate
setback today. But it doesn't have to be that way. This loss can spur him on
and motivate him. To train even better, to work even harder, and to
focus even more on his goals for the future. A true champion is not made
with one victory. A true champion is not unmade with one loss. A
true champion is made through many years time. Through all the
victories, through all the defeats, through all the good days, and through
all the bad days. That athlete can go through the worst possible conditions,
get through it somehow, and then come back and say, "You know what?
I'm gonna keep fighting, I'm not going to give up. I will never give up.
It doesn't matter that I lost today, in fact it's probably a good
thing, since it'll motivate me to become even better. To come back
stronger, smarter, and faster. I know now what I need to do to become the
best there ever was, and you know what? I'm gonna do it!". Hicham El
Guerrouj is this athlete. After the loss in Atlanta, he came back. After the
loss in Sydney, he came back. After today's loss in Rome, he'll come back.
In my heart I know that he is the image for what we can be and
accomplish if we try our best and never give up. He will never give up, never
stop working, never stop trying, and never stop fighting. For Hicham
El Guerrouj is a true champion."
Golden Gala - Rome, Italy - July 2nd,
2004, 21:10 - Mens 1500m
World Record 3:26.00 Hicham El Guerrouj MAR Rome
7-14-1998 Meeting Record 3:26.00 Hicham El Guerrouj MAR Rome
7-14-1998 World Lead 3:31.87 Ramzi Rashid BRN Alger 6-24-2004
Position
Name Country Yob Bib Order Time 1 Rashid Ramzi BRN 80 249 12 AR WL
3:30.25 2 Bernard Lagat KEN 74 2 17 SB 3:30.81 3 Mehdi Baala FRA 78 60 16
SB 3:31.25 4 Isaac Songok KEN 84 49 15 SB 3:31.94 5 Rui Silva POR 77 50 4
SB 3:32.13 6 Alex Kipchirchir KEN 84 58 13 SB 3:32.35 7 Michael East GBR
78 56 10 PB 3:32.37 8 Hicham El Guerrouj MAR 74 62 18 3:32.64 9 Nick
Willis NZL 83 47 2 PB 3:32.68 10 Mounir Yemmouni FRA 83 46 1 PB 3:32.97 11
Gert-Jan Liefers NED 78 54 8 SB 3:33.87 12 Kevin Sullivan CAN 74 48 3 SB
3:34.43 13 Juan Carlos Higuero ESP 78 59 14 SB 3:34.48 14 Vyacheslav
Shabunin RUS 69 51 5 SB 3:35.50 15 Aniss Selmouni MAR 79 52 6 SB
3:37.36 16 Paul Korir KEN 77 55 9 3:37.69 -- Arthemon Hatungimana BUR 74
64 20 DNF -- Benjamin Kipkurui KEN 80 57 11 DNF -- David Lelei KEN 71 63
19 DNF -- Christian Obrist ITA 80 53 7 DNF
Intermediate times: 400m
55.56 Arthemon Hatungimana BUR 800m 1:52.60 David Lelei KEN
