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News23 Aug 2000


Mourhit aims for third European record in Van Damme Memorial

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Mourhit aims for third European record in Van Damme Memorial
Anna Legnani in Brussels for IAAF

24 August 2000 - After taking the World Cross Country title in Vilamoura last March, Mohammed Mourhit has run sparingly this summer. The Moroccan-born Belgian could have capitalised on that prestigious gold medal, but chose instead to concentrate on his main objective for this season, striking gold at the Sydney Olympics. He therefore preferred to delay his return to the track, training instead in the altitude of the Moroccan Atlas mountains, at Ifrane.

Ifrane also hosts the training centre of the Moroccan Federation, but though he often meets there Hicham El Guerrouj and the best runners from his native country, training for Mourhit is a family affair, with his 18 year-old brother Hassan under the direction of elder brother Maurice.

"Hassan helped me a lot this year. It is sometimes lonely to train for long distances on one’s own, but my brother was there with me, helping me in the Olympic quest. I hope to help him start taking part in meetings himself next year – he hasn’t competed yet, but he is very talented."

Family ties are strong with the Mourhits. Maurice, who first came to Belgium in the eighties to study engineering, helped Mohammed to join him in Europe, and coaches the World Cross Champion. Hassan, who clocks 3:49 over 1500m, helps alleviate the tediousness of long daily sessions. Mohammed benefits from their support, and from a serene yet determined state of mind, to overcome all hurdles.

In his early years, Mourhit had often been the strongest in training, but injuries plagued his career till, in 1994, doctors finally discovered that one leg was 2 cm shorter than the other. After that, his progression has been constant. At the World Championships in Athens, he was already among the best long distance runners, but was unable to start in the final of the 10,000 metres. He had finished an easy second in the first heat, but had run with a borrowed pair of socks that were too large for him, and had left the soles of his feet bleeding after the gruelling effort.

Mohammed Mourhit is a soft-spoken athlete, who prefers to let his legs do the talking, but knows how to overcome problems and learn from little mistakes. In Sevilla last year he earned his first medal in a major championship, taking bronze over 5000 metres. Not content, just a week later at the Van Damme Memorial he shattered the European record over 10,000 metres, slicing off a huge 20 seconds to 27:12.47 before a delighted home crowd. Tomorrow night he hopes to give them renewed joy.

After the World Cross, Mourhit trained in the Atlas, weight training and endurance, and only came back to the track in the Golden League meeting in Oslo. His sixth place at Bislett in 12:56.60 already earned him a national record. In Zürich he clocked13:00.50 for fourth place behind Gebreselassie, Tergat and Sammy Kipketer.

Then in Monaco last week he shadowed Algerian Ali Saïdi Sief, who gave an impressive demonstration of power and speed to close his 3000 metres in 7:25.03. Mourhit’s 7:26.62 earned him a second European record.

Tomorrow night in the Roi-Baudoin Stadium, where only 2700 tickets out of 46,000 are still unsold, Mohammed Mourhit will be looking for his third continental record, over his favourite distance, the 5000m. If he accomplished the hat trick, something no European athlete has achieved in the last decades, one of the meeting sponsors has offered a new Volkswagen Beetle. "If I win that car," says Mourhit, "it will be for Hassan."

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