Le prince Hicham

Le prince Hicham

Des larmes.
Pas des sanglots. Non.
Les yeux rougis par l’émotion d’un dernier rendez-vous.
Des doigts hésitants qui tentent d’empêcher les gouttes de perler sur son visage d’angelot. A trente-deux ans, Hicham El Guerrouj paraît toujours un enfant.

L’immense champion marocain – un journal anglais l’avait même désigné, il y a quelque temps, plus grand athlète de l’Histoire, mais, en la matière, comparaison n’est pas nécessairement raison – Hicham El Guerrouj n’a pu cette semaine s’empêcher de masquer sa tristesse, mélange de bonheur d’un passé radieux et du désarroi d’une vie nouvelle à inventer.

« Je ne sais pas si je suis le plus grand, confessait El Guerrouj. Je me trouve plus petit que Sebastian Coe ou Haïlé Gébresselassié. J’ai juste l’impression de faire partie d’un petit cercle. »

Humble, modeste. Quelques champions exceptionnels, issus de milieux sinon défavorisés, en tout cas loin de toute protection, ont ce don, cette vertu de ne pas céder aux sirènes de la gloire et de demeurer les pieds sur terre. A cet égard, Hicham El Guerrouj n’est pas sans rappeler Zinedine Zidane empreint de la même pudeur quand, il y a quelques jours, lui aussi annonçait sa retraite sportive.

« J’ai sacrifié ma jeunesse à l’athlétisme. Je lui ai tout donné. A vingt-quatre ans, je ne connaissais toujours pas les boîtes de nuit, les bons restaurants, les magasins de vêtements branchés ». El Guerrouj a consenti d’énormes sacrifices pour aller au bout de sa passion. Il aura passé dix-neuf années de sa jeune vie à courir. Courir derrière des centièmes de seconde, des records, des médailles. Il a connu les échecs qui laissent des traces indélébiles, comme cette chute invraisemblable aux Jeux Olympiques d’Atlanta. Il a connu les défaites douloureuses comme cette deuxième place aux Jeux de Sydney. Car, à son niveau, seuls sont reconnus, choyés, adulés, les vainqueurs.

Des records, il en a battu. Plus d’un.

Il a terminé par un doublé historique 1500 – 5000 mètres à Athènes. Vingt et un mois passés depuis à se demander s’il voulait et s’il devait mettre un terme à sa carrière. Parce qu’au-delà des souffrances, quand on est habité par cette volonté permanente de gagner, il est difficile de stopper net la quête du Graal.

Tous les champions sont tenaillés entre la nécessité d’arrêter l’âge venu et l’envie de continuer. Car ils sont habités par une passion vorace.

El Guerrouj ne disait pas autre chose l’autre lundi : ce sport ouvre toutes les portes de l’espoir. A condition de le faire pour l’amour du sport et pas pour l’argent.

La simplicité jamais prise à revers de l’athlète marocain explique l’affection très forte que lui portent ses compatriotes et pas eux seulement. Cette identification à ces héros qui ne sont ni des machines, ni des robots, à ces hommes qui savent souffrir, se dépasser, n’est pas malsaine. C’est tout le contraire. Elle a même quelque chose de rassurant.


par Gérard Dreyfus
http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/077/article_43987.asp




Hicham El Guerrouj (Arabic: هشام الكروج) (born September 14, 1974, Berkane, Morocco) is a Moroccan middle distance runner. He has set several world records, and is considered by some as the greatest middle-distance runner of all time, earning him the nickname "King of the Mile". He has now moved up to compete in long distance events. He said he wants to better Kenenisa Bekele's world record of 12 min 37 s in the 5000 m.

He is the world record holder for the 1,500 metres, the mile and 2,000 metres and is the athlete with the best record in both events in the last decade.

His sporting career is marked by various recognitions such as the award to humanitarian effort from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which he received in 1996. He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. El Guerrouj was named best athlete of the year by the IAAF in 2001 and 2002 after remaining unbeaten in more than 20 races and thus becoming the first man to win athlete of the year titles in consecutive years since the award was created in 1988. Also, in 2002, he was chosen, together with the British athlete Paula Radcliffe, best athlete of the year by the prestigious athletics journal Track and Field News. In 2003, he was also top of the world athletics list and was elected as a member of the IAAF Athletes Committee.

On September 7, 2004, Hicham El Guerrouj was decorated with the "Cordon de Commandeur" by King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

History

Hicham El Guerrouj's first international triumph arrived in 1992, when he was third in the 5.000 metres junior World Championships in Seoul. He rose to international prominence in the mid-1990s with near-record times in the 1500 meters and mile. At the age of only 20 he finished second over 1500m at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. In 1996, after setting a new personal best over 1500m in 3:29.51 in Stockholm, he was considered one of the favourites for Olympic gold. However, at the Atlanta Olympics he collided with Algeria's Noureddine Morceli, who went on to win the gold medal. At the end of that season, El Guerrouj was the first runner to defeat Morceli over 1500m for four years when the two met at a meeting in Milan.

In the following years, El Guerrouj became the only middle distance runner to win four consecutive world titles in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003.

At a meeting in Rome in 1998 El Guerrouj broke Morceli's 1500m world record (3:27.37) and set a new one at 3:26.00. El Guerrouj broke the world record in the mile set by Noureddine Morceli in Rome on July 7, 1999, recording a remarkable 3:43.13 and just edging out Noah Ngeny of Kenya who recorded 3:43.40. Later in that season he set a new world record over 2000m in Berlin at 4:44.79. He also ran the second fastest 3000m ever when clocking 7:23.09 in Brussels in 1999. El Guerrouj came close to breaking his own 1500m record in Brussels in 2001 with a time of 3:26.12. His personal best over 5000m stands at 12:50.24 (Ostrava 2003).

At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he finished second in the 1500 meters. He won the gold medal in both the 1500 meters and 5000 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, running a stunning 1:46 last 800 meters in the 1500 meters to outkick Bernard Lagat of Kenya. In the 5,000m, El Guerrouj waited behind Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele until the home straightaway where he sprinted away for a 13:14 win. He became then the first man in 80 years to win both races in the same Olympics, after the "Flying Finn" Paavo Nurmi in 1924.

Hicham El Guerrouj also won 3 consecutive Golden League prizes in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He was the only middle distance athlete to achieve the win streak necessary to be entitled for a share of the Jackpot of 50 kilos of gold. Indeed, he is the only athlete to have won it three times in a row.

Winning the Olympics double

For the past decade, Hicham El Guerrouj had been seeking an Olympic gold medal. He collided with Algeria's Nourredine Morceli, who went to win the gold medal, at the last lap in Atlanta's 1500m final before finishing 12th. Between Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, he lost only one race before he was outsprinted by Noah Ngeny of Kenya.

Justice for El Guerrouj had to be made in Athens 2004. He ended eight years of agony as he won the elusive Olympic men's 1,500 and 5,000 metres gold medals. The 1500 race was especially remarkable in that El Guerrouj was caught and passed in the final straightaway, something that runners almost never recover from, but he was able to summon up an extra reserve and re-pass for the victory.

After winning the 1,500 metres medal, he said:

* "Its amazing to think that in Sydney I was crying tears of sadness and here I am crying tears of joy. I'm like a five year-old with a toy."

* "I felt Lagat coming again and again. At one point I thought this was Sydney all over again. He kept coming back at me like an avalanche but when Lagat closed on me for the last time I just found that extra energy."

After winning the 5,000 metres medal, making history after Paavo Nurmi of Finland did the same in 1924, he said:

* "Paavo Nurmi is a great legend. He is one of the athletes who marked history. He left his name at his point in time. Now, I’m able to put my name with his. He is from another time, a time when my grandfather was watching him. To stand alongside him now, how I can I express it? There are no words."

* "Maybe I will defend my title at the World championships next year. This year my objective was to win both races at the Olympics in Athens, which is the birthplace of the sport and my ‘birthplace’ as an athlete. Next year I will move onto the next stage and try to break the 5000m world record. Who knows? Maybe I will be there in 2008 after all, racing against Bekele again at 10,000m."

Personal Bests
Distance Mark Date Location
800 m 1:47.18 1995-06-02
1,000 m 2:16.85 1999-07-12 Nice
1,500 3:26.00 1998-07-14 Rome
Mile 3:43.13 1999-07-07 Rome
2,000 m 4:44.79 1999-09-07 Berlin
3,000 m 7:23.09 1999-09-03 Brussels
5,000 m 12:50.24 2003-03-12 Ostrava

Titles

Note: All dates in DD.MM.YYYY format

1500 m
Competition Ranking Timing Place Date Title
Olympic Games 1 3:34.18 Athens 24.08.2004 Gold medalist
World Championship 1 3:31.77 Paris 27.07.2003 World Champion
World Championship 1 3:30.68 Edmonton 05.08.2001 World Champion
Olympic Games 2 3:32.32 Sydney 29.09.2000 Silver medalist
World Championship 1 3:27.65 Seville 24.08.1999 World Champion
Grand Prix 1 3:26.00 Rome 14.07.1998 World recordman
World Championship 1 3:35.83 Athens 06.08.1997 World Champion
World Championship Indoor 1 3:35.31 Paris 08.03.1997 World Champion
Grand Prix 1 3:31.18 Stuttgart 02.02.1997 World recordman
World Championship 2 3:35.28 Gothenburg 13.08.1995 Silver medalist
World Championship Indoor 1 3:44.54 Barcelona 11.03.1995 World champion

Mile
Competition Ranking Timing Place Date Title
Grand Prix 1 3:43.13 Rome 07.07.1999 World recordman
Grand Prix 1 3:48.45 Gand 12.02.1997 World recordman

2000 m
Competition Ranking Timing Place Date Title
Grand Prix Final 1 4:44.79 Berlin 07.09.1999 World recordman

3000 m
Competition Ranking Timing Place Date Title
World Championship Indoor 1 7:37.74 Lisbon 11.03.2001 World Champion

5000 m
Competition Ranking Timing Place Date Title
Olympic Games 1 13:14.39 Athens 28.08.2004 Gold medalist
World Championship 2 12:52.83 Paris 31.08.2003 Silver medalist