Jaouad GHARIB

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Jaouad Gharib, Morocco (Marathon)

Born May 22, 1972

World Champion in the marathon, in 2003, in Paris

On 30 August 2003, 43 years after his countryman Abdeslam Radi won silver in the Rome Olympic Marathon, Jaouad Gharib ensured that his name went down in the history books, both in Morocco and worldwide, by producing one of the finest performances of the 9th IAAF World Championships in Paris. He won the gold, but also set a Championships record of 2:08.31, in only his second Marathon..

No big expectations surrounded Gharib’s arrival in Paris, but when he left with his gold medal, he had written a new glorious chapter in Morocco’s athletic history.

Gharib, who had finished 10th over 10,000m in the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, in 2001, and runner-up in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels in 2002, is an athlete who allies endurance, stamina and speed.

Gharib was a late bloomer who only started running at the age of 22. He took his time in blossoming into a world class athlete. A live retransmission of the 1992 edition of the Marrakech Marathon on Moroccan television was the first contact that this young Berber orphan from Khenifra, a town in the Middle Atlas, had with athletics.

“My love for the sport was triggered one day in January 1992 as I watched the live retransmission of the Marrakech Marathon. It was wonderful and I asked myself why I also could not run like these people and one day win this Marathon which is renowned internationally? This was the starting point of my life as an athlete”.

He got to work the very next day. Armed with trainers, shorts and a tee-shirt he started off training, first by himself and then with a local club. Up until then, he was like all youngsters and loved football.

His beginning in athletics was rather late, considering that most star athletes such as Hicham El Guerrouj have already conquered one or more world titles by the age of 22.

Gharib won his first honours with the “Garde Royale”, before switching to road races. He entered competitions all over Morocco and won all of them. His great potential meant he was selected by the National Federation to train with the top Moroccan athletes at the famous “Institut National d’Athlétisme” and to be coached by the former 10,000m Olympic Champion, Brahim Boutayeb. He is surrounded by all the great Moroccan athletes including Habassa, Bedday, Goumri and Salah Hissou.

It took all Aziz Daouda’s and Brahim Boutayeb’s force of persuasion and experience to get Gharib to concentrate solely on half marathons and marathons. Indeed, they are convinced that Gharib, thanks to his phenomenal assets and qualities, is now a favourite for the Olympic Gold medal and can go down in history as one of the greatest Marathon runners ever.

Gharib himself has been quoted as saying: “The Olympic title is my absolute priority. Should I achieve my goal, I will offer the precious medal posthumously to Radi Benabdessalam, who gave Morocco its first Olympic medal in Rome in 1960.

Jaouad GHARIB

Born May 22, 1972
World Champion in the marathon, in 2003, in Paris
Runner-up in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, in 2002, in Brussels
10th in the 10,000m at the IAAF World Championships, in 2001, in Edmonton
Gold Medalist in the 10,000m at the 13th Mediterranean Games, in 2001, in Tunis
8th in the 10,000m in the African Championships, in 2002, in Tunis
12th in the 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2003, in Birmingham
9th at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2002, in Bristol
6th in the Rotterdam Marathon, in 2003
1st in the Johannesburg Half Marathon, in 2003
3rd in the London Marathon, in 2004
Bronze Team Medalist in the Long Race in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, in Dublin, in 2002 (9th in the individual race)
Bronze Team Medalist in the Long Race in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, in Lausanne, in 2003 (23rd in the individual race)