Hasna Benhassi of Morocco wins the 800m at the World Athletics Final (© Getty Images)
Morocco will be represented by nine athletes at the 11th IAAF World Indoors Championships, Moscow, Russia (10 -12 March). The team is headed by their World Championship silver medallists from last summer Adil Kaouch (men’s 1500m) and Hasna Benhassi (women’s 800m).
Adil Kaouch, the 1998 World Junior 1500m champion and the winner on Sunday over 3000m in Gent, will take part over that distance in Moscow. He sped to a season’s best of 3:38.00 when winning the 1500m silver medal last summer behind Rashid Ramzi in Helsinki. He will be joined over 3000m in Moscow by the young Hicham Belani.
Amine Laâlou, who with his fourth place finish over 800m in 2004 was the best Moroccan performer of the last Championships which were held in Budapest, Hungary, and is again selected for Moscow over the four laps. Mohssine Chéhibi, who was fourth at the Athens Olympics, takes the second Moroccan berth at 800m.
Yassine Bensghir, the 2002 World Junior champion and last year’s double Francophone Games winner, and Youssef Baba are the line-up for 1500m.
The women’s squad is headed by Hasna Benhassi, the 2001 World Indoor champion at 1500m, who has made her mark outdoors in the last two seasons with Olympic and World silver medals at 800m. She is joined by Amina Ait Hammou.
Meryem Alaoui Selsouli, the 2002 World Junior 3000m silver medallist, who won over 3000m in Gent on Sunday in 8:41.67 goes at that same distance in Moscow.
Mohammed Benchrif for the IAAF
Men
800m: Amine Laâlou and Mohssine Chéhibi.
1500m: Yassine Bensghir and Youssef Baba.
3000m: Adil Kaouch and Hicham Belani
Women
800m: Hasna Benhassi and Amina Ait Hammou.
3000m: Meryem Alaoui Selsouli
