Morocco's El Guerrouj dream: getting 3rd world title in a row

Morocco's world champ Hicham El Guerrouj who already holds two world 1,500 m titles in 1997 and 1999 is dreaming to get his third title in a row.

El Guerrouj, who is trying to erase his defeat at Sydney where he only took the Silver medal, is dreaming to get gold at the 1,500 m final, to be staged on the last day of the world championships currently held in Edmonton, Canada. The dream is all the more strong as this will be the last time that he will be competing in a 1,500 m race, before moving to the 5,000 m.

He says he is well-prepared and has already showed his performances in the mile and the 1,500m where he achieved the best performances of the year. El Guerrouj, holder of five world records, started in March in Lisbon the season in the indoors meeting with a world tile at the 3,000 m, the third indoors one after the 1,500 m in 1995 (Barcelona) and 1997 in Paris.

This boosted his self-confidence after the hard lessons he drew from the Sydney defeat but he still regrets his failure to set new records.

The major challenge as he starts a career on the 5,000 m will be to break Haile Gebreselassie's record of 12:39'36" and he says it would be better if the Ethiopian athlete is there.

He also regrets the absence of the five-time world record holder ranked 2nd on the IAAF standing, Noah N'gueny, who could have lent more suspense to the race.

El Guerrouj also announces he will be running on August 24 and 31 in the Brussels and Berlin meets but says he has not yet made a decision on the IAAF grand prize slated for September 9 in Melbourne. He could also be on the line-up in Tunis' Mediterranean games.

His dearest dream? Become in 2004 in Athens an Olympic champ, a title still missing on his medal chart.