Morocco's El Guerrouj to break all speed records in running
When Hicham El Guerrouj failed by a single stride to break the mile world record in Nice on Thursday night, he knew that he would get another chance to stamp his name into the record books soon enough.
The only question is whether less than 72 hours between record attempts will be a sufficient recovery period for the 23-year-old Moroccan to launch a genuine attack on the 2,000 meters world best in Gateshead on Sunday evening.
If El Guerrouj is successful in his attempt on Noureddine Morceli's 4 minutes 47.88 second world mark, he will do so in what is still regarded as Britain's distance running heartland.
Gateshead, the venue of Sunday's International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) Grand Prix II meeting, has not witnessed a world record since the stadium was opened with the 3,000-meter best set by Brendan Foster on his home track August 3, 1974.
The cool and blustery conditions that often plague this northern English city are likely to hamper El Guerrouj on Sunday evening.
Tiredness could also be a factor for the 1,500 meters world champion. It was only on Tuesday night in Rome that he claimed his first outdoor world record, clocking 3 minutes 26.00 seconds in the 1,500. Then, in Nice on Thursday, El Guerrouj only narrowly missed the mile world record, possibly because of poor pacemaking.
A second world record in the space of a week, though, would affirm his position as the world's top middle distance runner, a position he has seemed destined to occupy since he ended Morceli's four-year unbeaten streak two years ago.
"Before, it was Said Aouita, then Morceli, now it's the hour of Hicham," he said after his victory in Rome. "Only the clock can beat me. My only enemy is Hicham."
On the latter point, El Guerrouj is probably right, not least because one of the worst aspects of the 1980s, when Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett monopolized middle-distance running, has resurfaced. Once again the top athletes in the event are apparently avoiding each other, with head-to-head events between El Guerrouj, Morceli and the world's number three miler, Burundi's Italian-based Venuste Niyongabo, becoming a thing of great rarity.
Nezha Bidouane, Morocco's 400 meters hurdles world champion, Nezha Bidouane is another highlight of the meeting. In Gateshead, she will have her first race of the summer, Map reported.