Hicham El Guerrouj host to young German
athlete in Ifrane
M. Benchrif-Maroc
A German lawyer, recently returned from a vacation in Morocco with his wife, recounted to
a German newspaper the exceptional hospitality of the Northern African people. He was, in
particular, referring to the young 1500m world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj.
The lawyer, Peter Dicty, was on holiday in Morocco last October, and his greatest desire was to obtain a surprise present for his son, Stefan, a promising young athlete who had stayed behind in Germany.
With the intent of obtaining an autograph of the athlete for his son, Dicty went to the Sport and Youth Ministry where he was directed to the Moroccan Athletic Federation. From there, he was able to contact El Guerrouj and explain his reason for wishing to meet with the athlete.
The 1500m World champion, who was at that time in a Rabat hospital, invited the lawyer to come and see him immediately. At the hospital, where visitors were queuing up to greet El Guerrouj, the lawyer spoke with the athlete’s coach, Abdelkader Kada, who introduced him to Hicham. There was literally "a sea of flowers" lining the corridors outside the athlete’s room the lawyer was later to tell "Rhein-Sieg Rundschau " a newspaper published in Western Germany.
The athlete and lawyer remained in conversation for about 30 minutes, and his visitor talked of his son, an aspiring athlete and fervent admirer of the great African athletes - Stefan is actually Germany’s 1500m national junior champion - whereupon Hicham instantly extended an invitation for the young German to come and visit his training camp in Ifrane.
The athlete was true to his promise and several weeks later, Hicham sent the invitation to Stefan, who went to Morocco on the 18 April for a one-month stay.