It’s official. Hicham El Guerrouj is now, surely, the greatest 1500m runner of all time. The fastest ever, the most medalled World champion ever, a man who has lost just four races in eight years and run seven of the 10 fastest times in the world – before tonight all that was missing from the Moroccan’s list of achievements was an Olympic gold medal.
It’s what he’s craved ever since he tripped with a lap to go in the 1996 final in Atlanta, as a hotly tipped 21 year-old. The image of that failure haunted him for four years as he established himself as an unbeatable force in the world of middle disdtance running. But in Sydney he failed again, losing to Kenya’s Noah Ngeny in the biggest shock of the Games, and wept in the bowels of the stadium.
It was supposed to be his destiny. It was written. Tonight, finally, it was achieved.
El Guerrouj’s victory here in Athens, in a time of 3:34.18, is Morocco’s first at the distance in Olympic history. El Guerrouj has won four World Championship finals, usually in utterely commanding fashion. This wasn’t one of those races, for he had to call on every ounce of his strength in a desperate sprint down the home straight to hold off the challenge of Kenyan Bernard Lagat, the Sydney bronze medallist.
”This is the greatest day of my life,” said El Guerrouj afterwards. “I can’t express my feelings.”
Lagat finished just 0.12 seconds behind, making this the closest Olympic 1500m final since New Zealand’s John Walker beat Belgium’s Ivo van Damme by a tenth in Montreal in 1976.
The bronze medal went to Portugal’s Rui Silva in 3:34.68.
Not only will this go down as El Guerrouj’s day but one of the greatest ever Olympic 1500m finals of all time.
After a false start – surely the first in a 1500m final – it was Lagat who led the initial charge. It looked, briefly, like he was going to make it fast. But the pace slowed and at 400m it was another Kenyan, Isaac Songok, who led the field through in 1:00.42.
The Spaniard, Reyes Estevez was on Songok’s shoulder with El Guerrouj and Lagat watching each other carefully on the edge of a bulging group. El Guerrouj began to move after 700m, shifting gradually onto Songok’s shoulder. They passed 800m in 2:01.93 and, as he’s done so often before, El Guerrouj kicked to the front down the back straight, turning up the pace with a string of Kenyans, Ethiopians and Europeans following behind him.
He hit the bell ahead, but not by much. Lagat, Ukraine’s Ivan Heshko and Estevez were in a line behind him, and within striking distance. At the final bend Lagat began to press El Guerrouj, as Heshko lost touch, surrendering third place to Silva.
As they entered the straight it looked like Lagat might overhaul El Guerrouj, just as he’d done in a similarly dramatic finish in Zurich just three weeks ago. They fought down the finishing stretch, stride for stride, the strain etched in both their faces. Lagat gave it everything, but El Guerrouj, his place in history ahead of him, just would not be beaten.
As he crossed the line the strain on his face evaporated, replaced by a look of utter relief, followed rapidly by joy. He spread his arms wide and, with his palms out, threw his head back and gave thanks to the heavens.
“It is finally complete,” he said.
El Guerrouj had run the last lap in 51.91.
Lagat immediately went to his side and the two friends embraced. “I am very happy for him,” said Lagat later. “He has now achieved it all. He deserves it.”MB
