Posted: August 25, 2004

Athletics: Olympic Day Five Report From Race Results Weekly

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

ATHENS (24-August) -- After a thrilling stride-for-stride homestretch battle with Bernard Lagat, Hicham El Guerrouj captured his elusive 1500 meter Olympic championship.

The moment he crossed the line, just a step ahead of Lagat, his hands covered his face, and when they dropped, he displayed to the world a look of shock, relief and exuberance.

Just a few words summed up the emotion of the moment for the greatest middle distance runner of his generation.

"It is finally complete," he said.

A four-time world champion who spent much of the past eight years rewriting the record books in the 1500 and mile, the Olympic stage was the 27-year-old's Achilles heel. A favorite at the 1996 Olympics, the Moroccan tripped in the final and finished last. Winning all but one of his races in the intervening years, he was an overwhelming favorite in the Sydney games, only to be out sprinted by Kenyan Noah Ngeny. The closing moments of that race four years ago weighed heavily on the 29-year-old in the final 50 meters here.

"In the last 50 meters, the first thing I thought about was Sydney," he said. "In Sydney, when Ngeny was coming up, I didn't feel the energy to start up again and kick in again. And today, when Lagat started creeping up, I thanked God that I found the energy to really kick."

After a false start --the first in an Olympic 1500?-- the opening lap was slow, with the Kenyan trio of Lagat, Timothy Kiptanui and Isaac Songok leading the tight pack with three laps to go, before Spaniard Reyes Estevez took brief command. A lap later, the pack was still tightly knit, with Lagat moving up on the inside, and El Guerrouj moving up to the front on the outside. Just before the bell, the pace quickened dramatically, with El Guerrouj taking firm command. Lagat, Ethiopian Mulugeta Wendimu and Ivan Heshko followed, but with 200 to go, the battle became a two-man race. The final 80 meters were a virtual replay of their last meeting in Zurich earlier this month, where Lagat emerged victorious. This time, his eye-popping effort fell short.

El Guerrouj stopped the clock in 3:34.18, 12/100s ahead of his long-time rival.

"I knew that at the 800 meter point the race was going to be slow and so I tried to speed up," El Guerrouj said, speaking through a translator. "And with 400 meters to go, I decided to speed up again." Entering the back stretch of the final lap, El Guerrouj said he looked up at the stadium screen and saw that Lagat was still closely behind, and decided to slow slightly on the final turn to prepare for the homestretch brawl. "I knew the strength he had, he really came back at me. It was like an avalanche really, the sensation of his attack. And I really was going at 101 percent. And I won by that one percent."

Lagat, who improved a notch from his bronze medal showing in Sydney, was the first to congratulate the man he's spent the majority of his career chasing.

"I knew it would be tough," Lagat said. "We all witnessed that today. I went all out. There was no miscalculation. I knew he would be at his best. I was telling my colleagues, 'You know, Hicham El Guerrouj is only missing one thing, and that is Olympic Gold.' So at the line, I was really happy for him. It was quite emotional. You know him, and you feel for him."

El Guerrouj shared his fondness for Lagat as well.

"I won the race, but I have to say that I really respect Lagat and the level he's been running at this year. It's great for everybody that he's doing so well and It's great for the sport."

Running the race of his life, Rui Silva of Portugal, a two-time medallist at the European Championships, exhibited a strong closing display of his own. Racing from fifth to third in the final 150 meters, the 27-year-old claimed the bronze in 3:34.68.

"You don't get [that strength] from anywhere," he said. "This is within yourself if you want to win a medal"

Kiptanui was a distant fourth in 3:35.61, just ahead of Heshko's 3:35.61. Rumors that El Guerrouj would be paced by compatriot Adil Kaouch, were in the end, just that. Kaouch was never in the race, and was well back, finishing ninth in 3:38.26.

After the race, the emotion of El Guerrouj's long-awaited moment was infectious. With "Zorba's Theme" blasting through the stadium, El Guerrouj stopped numerous times to accept congratulatory hugs and kisses from friends lining the track, before stepping into the stands to embrace his wife and their three-month-old daughter, Hiba. He then ended his victory lap with dance steps of his own, joining the capacity crowd of 60,000 plus celebrating his monumental achievement.

But El Guerrouj isn't finished. On Wednesday, he'll compete in the qualifying round of the 5000, a race he's now eagerly anticipating.

"I'm really hungry for tomorrow," he said. "I really came to win gold. And I can assure you that things won't be the way they were last year in Paris," where he finished second in the longer distance at the World Championships. "I won't have the same tactics."

Ezekiel Kemboi led a Kenyan podium sweep in the steeplechase, reaching the line in 8:05.81. Looking behind him as he raced to the line, the 22-year-old raised and swung his arms when the sweep was certain. Brimin Kipruto, who just turned 19, was second in 8:06.11, with Paul Kipsiele Koech third in 8:06.64. It was the first sweep of the event since 1992, when Kenya completed the task, and only the fourth time in Olympic history: Finland was the first in 1928, and Sweden managed the feat in 1948.

Kipruto overtook Kenyan-born Musa Obaid Amer of Qatar heading into the final water jump to secure the Kenyan sweep.