Morocco at The 2004 Summer Olympics - Athletics

Athletics

Morocco sent a 23-person Athletics team to Athens and was rewarded with three medals. Two came from one of the Games' biggest stars, Hicham El Guerrouj. Guerrouj entered the Games as a four-time World Champion in the 1500 metres, but had fallen in the Atlanta final, and finished second in Sydney, and was still pursuing an Olympic gold medal. He breezed through the qualifiers for the 1500 metres, and held off Bernard Lagat in the final to win gold. Four days later, El Guerrouj used a strong finish to pull past 10000 metres gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele to win gold in the 5000 metres, being the first athlete to win the 1500-5000 double since Paavo Nurmi, and also becoming the first ever Moroccan double gold medalist.

Morocco's other medal in Athens also came in middle-distance running, in this case, the women's 800 metres. Hasna Benhassi easily qualified to the final, where she set a new national record, and just pushed ahead of two other runners to earn silver in a very close finish, just five-hundredths of a second short of gold, and just eight-hundredths ahead of fourth.

Moroccan runners recorded five other finals appearances in Athens. Mouhssin Chehibi in the men's 800 metres did very well to set a personal best in the semifinal, and made a strong finishing kick to move up from 6th to 4th in the closing metres of the final. Adil Kaouch, Hicham Bellani and Abderrahim Goumri all were in finals with El Guerouj, Kaouch in the 1500 and Bellani and Goumri in the 5000. None of the three managed to challenge for a medal alongside the double gold medalist. Benhassi qualified for the 1500 metres final as well, but was unable to add to her silver medal. All but three of the twenty-three athletes competed in long or middle-distance running, with only two field athletes participating. Two notable athletes that did not finish in the top eight were Jaouad Gharib, 2003 world champion in the Marathon, who finished 11th, and Nezha Bidouane, who had won a bronze medal in Sydney and gold at the 2001 World Championships, who did not get out of her opening heat in the 400 metre hurdles.

Men's 800 metres:

  • Mouhssin Chehibi
  • Round 1 — 1:46.77 (2nd in heat 9, Qualified, 32nd overall)
  • Semifinal — 1:44.62 (3rd in semifinal 2, Qualified, 3rd overall) (Personal Best)
  • 'Final — 1:45.16 (4th overall)
  • Amine Laalou
  • Round 1 — 1:45.88 (1st in heat 6, Qualified, 12th overall)
  • Semifinal — 1:47.53 (7th in semifinal 1, did not advance, 20th overall)

Men's 1500 metres:

  • Youssef Baba
  • Round 1 — 3:38.71 (7th in heat 3, Qualified, 11th overall)
  • Semifinal — 3:42.96 (10th in semifinal 2, did not advance, 20th overall)
  • Hicham El Guerrouj
  • Round 1 — 3:37.86 (1st in heat 1, Qualified, 4th overall)
  • Semifinal — 3:40.87 (1st in semifinal 2, Qualified, 10th overall)
  • Final — 3:34.18 (→ Gold Medal)
  • Adil Kaouch
  • Round 1 — 3:39.88 (4th in heat 2, Qualified, 18th overall)
  • Semifinal — 3:35.69 (1st in semifinal 1, Qualified, 1st overall)
  • Final — 3:38.26 (→ 9th overall)

Men's 5000 metres:

  • Hicham Bellani
  • Round 1 — 13:22.64 (6th in heat 1, Qualified, 13th overall)
  • Final — 13:31.81 (→ 9th overall)
  • Abderrahim Goumri
  • Round 1 — 13:20.03 (5th in heat 2, Qualified, 5th overall)
  • Final — 13:47.27 (→ 13th overall)
  • Hicham El Guerrouj
  • Round 1 — 13:21.87 (3rd in heat 1, Qualified, 9th overall)
  • Final — 13:14.39 (→ Gold Medal)

Men's 10000 metres:

  • Mohammed Amyne
  • 28:55.96 (→ 18th overall)

Men's Marathon:

  • Rachid Ghanmouni
  • did not finish
  • Khalid El Boumlili
  • did not finish
  • Jaouad Gharib
  • 2:15:12 (→ 11th overall)

Ghanmouni and El Boumlili both pulled out between the halfway point and the 25 km checkpoint.

Men's 3000 metre Steeplechase:

  • Abdelatif Chemlal
  • Round 1 — 8:29.36 (→ 9th in heat 2, did not advance, 25th overall)
  • Ali Ezzine
  • Round 1 — 8:20.18 (5th in heat 1, Qualified, 10th overall)
  • Final — 8:15.58 (→ 8th overall)
  • Zouhair Ouerdi
  • Round 1 — 8:27.55 (4th in heat 3, did not advance, 21st overall)

Men's Long Jump:

  • Yahya Berrabah
  • Round 1 — 7.62 m (→ 16th in Group A, did not advance, 30th overall)
  • Tarik Bougtaib
  • Round 1 — 7.79 m (→ 13th in Group B, did not advance, 24th overall)

Women's 800 metres:

  • Hasna Benhassi
  • Round 1 — 2:01.20 (1st in heat 1, Qualified, 10th overall)
  • Semifinal — 1:58.59 (1st in semifinal 2, Qualified, 3rd overall)
  • Final — 1:56.43 (→ 'Silver Medal, Moroccan Record)
  • Amina Aït Hammou
  • Round 1 — 2:03.70 (2nd in heat 4, Qualified, 24th overall)
  • Semifinal — 2:00.66 (→ 7th in semifinal 1, did not advance, 17th overall)
  • Seltana Aït Hammou
  • Round 1 — 2:03.95 (2nd in heat 6, Qualified, 28th overall)
  • Semifinal — 2:00.64 (→ 6th in semifinal 3, did not advance, 16th overall)

Women's 1500 metres:

  • Hasna Benhassi
  • Round 1 — 4:05.98 (5th in heat 2, Qualified, 5th overall)
  • Semifinal — 4:07.39 (5th in semifinal 1, Qualified, 13th overall)
  • Final — 4:12.90 (→ 12th overall)
  • Bouchra Ghezielle
  • Round 1 — did not start

Women's Marathon:

  • Hafida Izem
  • 2:40:46 (→ 27th overall)
  • Kenza Wahbi
  • 2:41:36 (→ 30th overall)

Women's 400 metre Hurdles:

  • Nezha Bidouane
  • Round 1 — 55.69 (→ 3rd in heat 3, did not advance, 18th overall)

Read more about this topic:  Morocco At The 2004 Summer Olympics