Morocco Travel Information

When the athletics competitions in Beijing begin on Friday (August 15th), Morocco's Olympic team will include 29 athletes hoping to repeat the victories of retired superstar Hicham El Guerrouj.

Morocco's medal hopefuls are led by Hasna Benhassi, silver medallist in the women's 800m event in Athens, and two-time World Marathon Champion Jaouad Gharib.

The country's participants in fencing, judo and swimming have all been eliminated, leaving their hopes tied to track and field and boxing, where three of ten boxers remain in the medals contest.

In the athletics events, the Moroccan team aims to rediscover the sparkling form of years gone by, renewing their "Olympic Champion" status, even if big guns such as Hicham El Guerrouj are absent. The majority of this year's athletes are newcomers to Olympic competition.

Since late 2006, Moroccan officials have worked to prepare a team with solid potential. According to the Royal Moroccan Athletics Federation, the government has focussed on developing sports infrastructure and reforming the system whereby sportsmen and women and trainers are evaluated.

National Technical Director Mustapha Aouchar told Magharebia that Morocco has worked to provide suitable conditions for its runners so that they may achieve their aspirations in Beijing. "We started our build-up in 2007," Aouchar said, "and asked our runners to cut back on their international competitions."

"Our aim was to help them save up their energy for the Olympic Games," Aouchar continued, adding that the Moroccan government awarded grants to the athletes to compensate for what they gave up in prize money.

Therefore, Moroccan runners were able to focus strictly on the competitions necessary to qualify for the Games in Beijing.

Aouchar was not overconfident, however.

"Of course the competition will be fierce," he said. "In each Olympic Games, the performance of athletes improves. The runners we fear most are the African runners, especially from Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as runners from Russia."

Before flying to Beijing, Hasna Benhassi, silver medallist in Athens and runner-up in the 800m steeplechase at the 2007 World Championship in Osaka, Japan, told the press that she had great hopes for the Olympic Games.

"I've got a lot of experience," she said, "and in Beijing, if Mariem Alaoui Selsouli and I get through to the final of the 1,500 metres, we shall certainly be adopting a tactical approach like the Russian champions, who have dominated this event for a number of years now. In the World Championships and the Olympics, it's the national flag which comes first."

For Selsouli – a long-distance runner who set a new personal best in the 5,000m Beijing qualifiers – her ambition is no secret. "It's my first time in the Olympic Games; my aim will be to come away with a medal," she said simply.

For Jaouad Gharib, Beijing represents another chance to prove his champion status on the Olympic track. Crowned World Champion in marathons in Helsinki and France, Gharib had to make do with eleventh place in the 2004 Athens Games.

Morocco is also pinning great hopes on runner Amine Laalou, who is ranked 11th in the International Association of Athletics Federation's world classification of the best runners in the 800m men's category.

Laalou began his sports career in basketball, before being discovered by Moroccan track trainer Najat Ben Talha, who convinced him to switch to running. A talented athlete in the 800m event, Laalou first shone in 2004 when he qualified for the semi-finals in Athens with a time of 1:47.52. Since then he has been improving his performance, receiving top honours in the third stage of the Golden League in Rome 2006, with a final time of 1:43.25, a personal best.

In the 1,500m race, in which El Guerrouj has held the world record since 1998, 21-year-old runner Abdelaati Iguider has distinguished himself as Morocco's strongest medal contender.

The IAAF ranks Iguider fourth in the world in the 1,500m category, behind three runners from Kenya. He won second place in the 1,500m category in the Golden League in Rome behind Kenya's Asbel Kiprop, and won the World Junior Championship in Grosseto, Italy in 2004.

Iguider aspires to keep the world record for Morocco in this category, following in the footsteps of El Guerrouj and Saïd Aouita, who set the record in Berlin in 1985.

In the 1,500m stables, Morocco's eighth-ranked Mohamed Moustaoui may have a surprise in store for his fans.

Physical education teacher Faouzi Bourja told Magharebia that the time has come for officials to revitalise Olympic sports, after Morocco fell from 11th to 28th place in the 2007 world rankings in Osaka.

"Athletics has already produced many famous champions," he said. "The Moroccan hall of fame already boasts 19 Olympic medals over the years. In Beijing, the Moroccan athletes must give their best, otherwise they'll return to the fold empty-handed."

Fans are certainly going to be glued to broadcasts of the athletics events. Karim Imrane, a physical trainer at a sports centre, said that Hasna Benhassi is one of the mainstays of the Moroccan team, even though she will face fierce opponents such as Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei, 2007 World Champion in Osaka.

Teacher Amine Fadili told Magharebia that Moroccan athletics is going through a period of transition, and that Moroccans must be patient.

"I hope with all my heart that Morocco will get at least two athletics medals. But federation officials themselves have said as much: the first real reckoning will be in four years' time. We are expecting some convincing results in 2012," he said.

From: The Maghreb at Olympic games

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