Never was anyone more deserving of an Olympic gold medal than El Guerrouj,you can tell how much it meant to him and how pleased the other athletes were that he finally got it. Also I've seen three of different broadcasts of this race, from the USA, UK and Australia and from what I've seen everyone wanted El Guerrouj to win.
Exactly, also it goes to show how tough Olympic gold medals are to win when you think of the greats who, for all their dominance in their event, only won it once, greats like Maurice Greene, El Guerrouj, Sergy Bubka, Carolina Cluft, Michael Johnson (200m, not 400m), Jonathan Edwards, Cathy Freeman, Allan Johnson and Dwight Philips to name but a few.
especially when you factor in his olympic run 4 years earlier. El Guerrouj got nipped right at the end. Even though he medaled, it was heartbreaking in a way
El Guerrouj is such a nice guy that everybody hugged him after the race because unlike so many in-your-face athletes like Usain Bolt, this is a modest, understated human being. That he won the 5000 also was icing on the cake.
I agree. I think you can say the same about the Kenyans hugging him while he cried - such a touching moment in sport. I still lose it myself when I watch this 13 years later. They were true gentlemen of the sport.
Also great to shake off the "greatest individual athlete to not win gold' moniker. It's been 18 years since he retired and we still haven't had anyone even close to him.
Underrated performance by the portugese runner Rui Silva. the guy was in last place for about 1000m of the race but gathered enough determination and strength to get a medal. Very cool.
He indeed ran extremely fast in the last 800m, but performances like these usually appear when the pace of the race is too slow in the beginning (and I wonder why Hicham El Gerrouj had allowed it to be so). Still an outstanding performance. He should have competed in the 800m with that speed.
that was a great race . I loved the close finish . That one guy(Bernard Lagat of Kenya ?) even passed Hicham in the last 50 meters or so but gurage pulled back in front last 25 or so meters . One of the greatest 1500 meters i ever saw
فعلا أسطورة.. استطاع قيادة السباق القوي في اللفتين الأخيرتين.. إنها العزيمة والقوة والإصرار.. الحياة او الموت أخر مشاركة في أثينا أخر أمل.. وكان المبتغى الفوز بالذهب وسطر إسمه في الألعاب ألألمبية بذهبيتين.. هنيئا له وهنيئا للعرب..
I remember watching this race years ago. I didn’t understand the importance as a kid. Didn’t know he was that dude for so long but didn’t have the one medal that means everything. Growing up and becoming a runner myself, this was my all time favorite race (until 2016 and 2024 1500m races). And I always thought of myself to have a similar race stay to El G. Good kick, not amazing for a miler. Great kick for a 5k guy, but maybe not able to run with the best on the fastest of races over that distance. Obviously I came no where near as amazing as this guy. But he inspired me since I saw similarities to him in myself.
In fact, there are two eras in athetics, The amateurs éra and The professional Era . Herb Elliott was The best miler for The first era, and El Guerouj, The best, for The moment, for The second era.
Too many rumours with Elg regarding the use of EPO which was untraceable. To improve from a runner who was nowhere compared to runners like Morceli to suddenly taking 5 seconds off his pb and thrashing Morceli is very, very strange indeed 🤔
Rui Silva's last lap was insane! He was 3rd last at the bell, i remember watching the final with 150m to go that e may win. If he was even mid pack it would have been interesting to see if he would have caught them. He had so much work to do and had to run so wide around everyone. Curious as to what his last lap was.
It was a great win for Hicham. But am I the only only one who noticed Rui Silva who was in second last with one lap to go and then got THIRD. I was watching the clock and Rui ran close to 50 seconds for the last lap. That's just crazy!
Wikipedia: "He was the Olympic bronze medalist at Athens in 2004, where he went from last place to third place in less than 400 meters, his last lap being in 51.3 seconds. His last 800 meters of that race were run in 1:46.3, believed to be the second-fastest final 800 metres of any 1500-meter race in history (behind Abdi Bile's 1:46.0 at the 1987 World Championships). "
Wow...I mean WOW... Solid IRON from the mother land... AFRICA... What a spirit... I know Hicham from home... He had nothing while growing up... living under level poverety... The real breave heart.
Exactly. If you just watch Silva on the last lap, it's pretty stunning. Too bad he wasn't a bit closer when he started his final lap. Would've been crazy.
Great race! Beautiful stride! A 51 second last lap? Ridiculous!!! Great admiration and respect for Lagat and Guerrouj. You can only imagine the amounts of pain they have to go through in training to make the first 3 laps look so effortless.
Très belle course d’Hichem ! Le roi du demi-fond ! Mais quelle course hallucinante de Rui Silva !!!!! 50 secondes le 400😳 !! Dernier à 1 tour de la fin , il rattrape et dépose ses concurrents à une vitesse hallucinante !!! Bravo !
That last 800 meters was unbelievable. The guy who finished third (Silva) might have run the last 800 faster than El guerrouj, as he was pretty far back with two laps to go. Silva was in last with about 550 meters to go.
I think the phonetic spelling is adequate in every language for his name since the original is in arabic/persian spelling, but the fact is that the French "Guerrouj" spelling became most popular (it might be the second native language in Morocco). For instance in Hungarian it spells "Gerúzs". Same thing goes with russian spelling, they spell English names their way in cyrillic.
كجزائري الكروج اسطورة .... و اللدي لم أفهمه أنه كان غير محظوظ في أوج عطائه خاصة في 2000 و الالومبياد الذي كان مريض قبله بفترة قصيرة 2004 أخذ ذهبيتين ....
ha costruito tutta la corsa dal esterno ' da favorito'' ha vinto meritatamente'' di forza '' bravissimo ' una delle piu belle corse di tutte le Olimbiade''
I do too. It’s Hicham’s open display of emotion and the sincere congrats from his competitors that gets me. Imagine, Lagat’s just had his heart broken yet he and his compatriot are hugging the sobbing El G. as if they were pulling for him all along. Such touching sportsmanship.
Too many rumours with Elg regarding the use of EPO which was untraceable. To improve from a runner who was nowhere compared to runners like Morceli to suddenly taking 5 seconds off his pb and thrashing Morceli is very, very strange indeed 🤔
He also ran the 5000m for the first time in his career and won in the same afternoon!! That's two hard to get Olympic golds also he holds the record over 6 seconds better than that race!
I always get the 2004 race confused with the 2000 equivalent. I didn't think I'd ever see El Guerrouj beaten in an important race (rather like Morceli), yet he was. 2004 was vindication for El Guerrouj... probably the greatest runner of our, or any era !
What about the fucking race by the portuguese?!!! 10 more metres ans he would have been olimpic champion... This is by far and i mean by far the biggest achivement of portuguese sport...may God bless Rui Silva...
Cesar Monteiro He actually could've won but he was playing a bit too conservatively that race. If he was up there, he definitely would've been the dark horse to win it all.
They are good friends but strong rivals. You wouldn't understand, an athlete that always gets second best would be pretty grouchy. Anyway I think Lagat was glad to be part of most of Guerouj's legendary races and career over the years.
COMMENTARY GOT THAT WRONG AT 4:41 ABDI BILE RAN THE FASTEST LAST 800M EVER 1,45,9 1987 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!( with massive help from Steve cram of course)
Rui Silva ran a 51 second last lap to finish 3rd just behind Lagat and Guerrouj. Look at where he is at the bell! If would have even ran in 3rd last all race, didnt get bumped at about midaway it could have been a huge upset. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
@467076 I meant that there were runners who were faster, as in 'top end speed.' Gerrouj had amazing speed endurance, maintaining a fast pace over a long period. For pure top speed, Coe was faster. He was an 800 metre specialist too remember. Ngeny has the WR for 1 Km, and he also has a faster top end speed than El
Never was anyone more deserving of an Olympic gold medal than El Guerrouj,you can tell how much it meant to him and how pleased the other athletes were that he finally got it. Also I've seen three of different broadcasts of this race, from the USA, UK and Australia and from what I've seen everyone wanted El Guerrouj to win.
Exactly, also it goes to show how tough Olympic gold medals are to win when you think of the greats who, for all their dominance in their event, only won it once, greats like Maurice Greene, El Guerrouj, Sergy Bubka, Carolina Cluft, Michael Johnson (200m, not 400m), Jonathan Edwards, Cathy Freeman, Allan Johnson and Dwight Philips to name but a few.
Colin Jackson as well, held the world record for years yet the olympic gold was always out of reach.
I will never know how Nils Schumann beat him in Sydney. Biggest fluke ever!
especially when you factor in his olympic run 4 years earlier. El Guerrouj got nipped right at the end. Even though he medaled, it was heartbreaking in a way
Il sauver il attendu 8ans pour gagane la maidaille olympiques morcelé ont 96 kinyz 2000 geurout 2004
El Guerrouj is such a nice guy that everybody hugged him after the race because unlike so many in-your-face athletes like Usain Bolt, this is a modest, understated human being. That he won the 5000 also was icing on the cake.
I agree. I think you can say the same about the Kenyans hugging him while he cried - such a touching moment in sport. I still lose it myself when I watch this 13 years later. They were true gentlemen of the sport.
Also great to shake off the "greatest individual athlete to not win gold' moniker. It's been 18 years since he retired and we still haven't had anyone even close to him.
Usain bolt is actually humble in his own way. Say what you want we love bolt's character
Underrated performance by the portugese runner Rui Silva. the guy was in last place for about 1000m of the race but gathered enough determination and strength to get a medal. Very cool.
He indeed ran extremely fast in the last 800m, but performances like these usually appear when the pace of the race is too slow in the beginning (and I wonder why Hicham El Gerrouj had allowed it to be so). Still an outstanding performance. He should have competed in the 800m with that speed.
his last 800 meters was the 2nd fastest in 1,500 meter history.
I cried watching him cry of happiness.
My favourite race ever, never before or since has the winner deserved it so much
RUI SILVA made third place and I felt soooo proud for my country Portugal
Portugal is a beautiful country ;-)
If he was close, he may have won the race. I think he ran the fastest last 400 metres
هشام الجروج يعني العزيمة والاصرار تحياتي ليك يا بطل من مصر
I like how they all hug each other at the end. No other sport would do that.
They just shared the kind of pain many athletes have no idea about. That sport is a singular, all out, effort. They hug like survivors.
Even at high school level i love the respect and support that athletes have for each other in track and field.
this video has made me cry many times. This is why i love the olympics.
Rui Silva what a comeback on last lap💪Portugal!
Still gives me goosebumps.
Remember this like yesterday,amazing finish,shouting like crazy at the tv for Hitcham.
1:46.70 final 800m. enough said.
that was a great race . I loved the close finish . That one guy(Bernard Lagat of Kenya ?) even passed Hicham in the last 50 meters or so but gurage pulled back in front last 25 or so meters . One of the greatest 1500 meters i ever saw
والله الڤروج أسطورة فريدة من نوعها ماتتعاوش في تاريخ ألعاب القوى المغربية تحياتي لك يا بطل من 🇩🇿
فعلا أسطورة.. استطاع قيادة السباق القوي في اللفتين الأخيرتين.. إنها العزيمة والقوة والإصرار.. الحياة او الموت أخر مشاركة في أثينا أخر أمل.. وكان المبتغى الفوز بالذهب وسطر إسمه في الألعاب ألألمبية بذهبيتين.. هنيئا له وهنيئا للعرب..
Rui Silva..... faltando una vuelta para el final venia en el ultimo y acelero tanto q llego en TERCER LUGAR ✌👏👏👏
I remember watching this race years ago. I didn’t understand the importance as a kid. Didn’t know he was that dude for so long but didn’t have the one medal that means everything.
Growing up and becoming a runner myself, this was my all time favorite race (until 2016 and 2024 1500m races). And I always thought of myself to have a similar race stay to El G. Good kick, not amazing for a miler. Great kick for a 5k guy, but maybe not able to run with the best on the fastest of races over that distance. Obviously I came no where near as amazing as this guy. But he inspired me since I saw similarities to him in myself.
the guy who won the bronze was actually in last place just before the final lap. his last 800 meters was the 2nd fastest in 1,500 meter history.
This was one of Tom Hammond's finest moments. Such a great call.
El G is without doubt the Greatest Middle distance runner of All Time. His 1500m still stands after almost 20 Years!
Said Aouita!!
Said Aouita is one of a kind.. the guy competed from 800m to 10000m even 3000m S/C.
like ur post but now is another great middle distance runner, he run 800 m, indeed.
In fact, there are two eras in athetics, The amateurs éra and The professional Era . Herb Elliott was The best miler for The first era, and El Guerouj, The best, for The moment, for The second era.
Too many rumours with Elg regarding the use of EPO which was untraceable. To improve from a runner who was nowhere compared to runners like Morceli to suddenly taking 5 seconds off his pb and thrashing Morceli is very, very strange indeed 🤔
Rui Silva's last lap was insane! He was 3rd last at the bell, i remember watching the final with 150m to go that e may win. If he was even mid pack it would have been interesting to see if he would have caught them. He had so much work to do and had to run so wide around everyone. Curious as to what his last lap was.
Rui Silva's last 400 was 51 seconds 37 hundredths, coming from 11th position
It was a great win for Hicham. But am I the only only one who noticed Rui Silva who was in second last with one lap to go and then got THIRD. I was watching the clock and Rui ran close to 50 seconds for the last lap. That's just crazy!
Yeah, Rui Silva could had won the race if he wasn't so behind in the beginning of the last lap. But I think it was his strategies for the race.
falcon eye view
Wikipedia: "He was the Olympic bronze medalist at Athens in 2004, where he went from last place to third place in less than 400 meters, his last lap being in 51.3 seconds. His last 800 meters of that race were run in 1:46.3, believed to be the second-fastest final 800 metres of any 1500-meter race in history (behind Abdi Bile's 1:46.0 at the 1987 World Championships). "
Matt S lol yea i know hes so happy when the race ended
He still lost
Amazing video. He is the true definition of a champion.
this is the best 1500 meter race i have seen
Wow...I mean WOW... Solid IRON from the mother land... AFRICA... What a spirit... I know Hicham from home... He had nothing while growing up... living under level poverety... The real breave heart.
sickest final lap by Rui Silva.
Exactly. If you just watch Silva on the last lap, it's pretty stunning. Too bad he wasn't a bit closer when he started his final lap. Would've been crazy.
Silva may have won this
Thank you Rui Silva! I'm proud of you
Rui Silva ❤️🇵🇹
La mejor carrera de 1500m de la historia :D
My vote still goes for Bayi at the 1974 Commonwealth Games.
Great race! Beautiful stride! A 51 second last lap? Ridiculous!!!
Great admiration and respect for Lagat and Guerrouj. You can only imagine the amounts of pain they have to go through in training to make the first 3 laps look so effortless.
The Portuguese Rui Silva did an incredible race. At the beginning of the last round he ran from 10th to the bronze medal. Unbelievable.
the heavy the legs feel in those last 100m ..it was just a battle for your life
Así lloran los campeones y los genios del deporte!!🙏
WE have to give the credit to the runner who came up 3rd. He came way from behind
Rui Silva from team Portugal, amazing bronze indeed :)
like a rocket
50.8 the last lap
Theres only 1 winner
It's crazy that the last 800m of this race was run in 1:46
Jesus Christ just amazing!! Man just amazing
The final 800 in El Guerrouj's run was faster than his 800-only PR.
Très belle course d’Hichem !
Le roi du demi-fond !
Mais quelle course hallucinante de Rui Silva !!!!! 50 secondes le 400😳 !!
Dernier à 1 tour de la fin , il rattrape et dépose ses concurrents à une vitesse hallucinante !!!
Bravo !
The best event in that OG. And it's one of the all time.
هدا السباق لم يكن هشام في صحة جيدة إللى ان العامل النفسي والتحدي هو اللدي جعله يفوز بالسباق شكرا البطل قبعة 🌹💕🇲🇦💕🌹
crazy finish and perhaps one of the greatest 1500 races ever along with sydney
Silva was very smart in this race, he had a very fast 400, probably under 50
best version of this race on youtube.
good job
That last 800 meters was unbelievable. The guy who finished third (Silva) might have run the last 800 faster than El guerrouj, as he was pretty far back with two laps to go. Silva was in last with about 550 meters to go.
amazing he deserved it i knew he was gonna do well ever since i saw him break the world record for 1600m on 1999 :)
Insisto el 3 lugar bien pudo ser el primero!
amazing race and good sportsmanship
4:13....that is sportsmanship and respect right there
涙無くして見れない。エルゲルージは伝説だ。
ラストラップが51秒台...信じられない。
For sure
I think the phonetic spelling is adequate in every language for his name since the original is in arabic/persian spelling, but the fact is that the French "Guerrouj" spelling became most popular (it might be the second native language in Morocco). For instance in Hungarian it spells "Gerúzs". Same thing goes with russian spelling, they spell English names their way in cyrillic.
Hicham el guerouj est très grand
which pixel is guruge
بطل بامتياز....سلامات ..سلامات...سباق التحدي...
كجزائري الكروج اسطورة .... و اللدي لم أفهمه أنه كان غير محظوظ في أوج عطائه خاصة في 2000 و الالومبياد الذي كان مريض قبله بفترة قصيرة 2004 أخذ ذهبيتين ....
حتى عندما تعثرت قدمه بقدم البطل المرسلي .. و قد كان الكل يراهن على فوزه بالذهب .. لكنه سوء الحظ كما ذكرت ..
ha costruito tutta la corsa dal esterno ' da favorito'' ha vinto meritatamente'' di forza '' bravissimo ' una delle piu belle corse di tutte le Olimbiade''
What a stud move down the straight...
برافو الكروج...سباق التحدي بطل بامتياز
almost unreal
these guys are amazing
Why do I cry whenever I watch this !?
I do too. It’s Hicham’s open display of emotion and the sincere congrats from his competitors that gets me. Imagine, Lagat’s just had his heart broken yet he and his compatriot are hugging the sobbing El G. as if they were pulling for him all along. Such touching sportsmanship.
Too many rumours with Elg regarding the use of EPO which was untraceable. To improve from a runner who was nowhere compared to runners like Morceli to suddenly taking 5 seconds off his pb and thrashing Morceli is very, very strange indeed 🤔
الكروج كان الاحق بالميدالية الذهبية
وأحلى هشام الكروج شي بيرفع الراس
Wow. Hicham loses race, then wins it
One of the best track races ever..
He also ran the 5000m for the first time in his career and won in the same afternoon!! That's two hard to get Olympic golds also he holds the record over 6 seconds better than that race!
They ran the last 100m in about 11-12 seconds..amazing
Rui Silva pudo ganar, pero cedió mucho desde la salida!
هشام القروج بطل اسطوري لن يتكرر
اي والله
الجاكوار يجري صعب صعب هشام الكروج اسطورة لن تتكرر
تحية لجميع ابطال المغاربة ✌🇲🇦
I always get the 2004 race confused with the 2000 equivalent. I didn't think I'd ever see El Guerrouj beaten in an important race (rather like Morceli), yet he was. 2004 was vindication for El Guerrouj... probably the greatest runner of our, or any era !
they make it look so easy!
"Estevez had one hair in the semi-final" :')
less than 3 seconds separated 1st-8th must be a record in itself 😗
What about the fucking race by the portuguese?!!! 10 more metres ans he would have been olimpic champion... This is by far and i mean by far the biggest achivement of portuguese sport...may God bless Rui Silva...
Cesar Monteiro He actually could've won but he was playing a bit too conservatively that race. If he was up there, he definitely would've been the dark horse to win it all.
Cesar Monteiro Well... the race was NOT 10 meters longer. He ran a good race, but it was third best. Still a nice result.
+Cesar Monteiro Bet to differ with portuguese Carlos Lopes. 3 time winner of the IAAF World XC Championships and Olympic Gold in the marathon.
Cesar Monteiro, you're delusional. Silva was losing ground on El Guerrouj and Legat the entire last 100 meters.
Cesar Monteiro no he wouldn't have
Well done Rui Silva.
the 2 people who dislike this clip must be bernard lagat's parents
They are good friends but strong rivals.
You wouldn't understand, an athlete that always gets second best would be pretty grouchy.
Anyway I think Lagat was glad to be part of most of Guerouj's legendary races and career over the years.
@iamreally9 yeah, it's a great race to come back and look at every few months or so.
My god the are flying in the last lap!
the guy in the green shorts beasted that last 200
anybody else not getting sound from this video? Awesome video quality though!
el....... great .......great run
The most incredible last 800m ever, that time of 1:46 would probably make the olympic 800 final!
@stephenmegos i dont need to it was electronicly timed at a trial...
i agree it was pretty impresive for rui silva from 2nd to last up to get the bronze medal. but el guerrouj the best!!!!
wow just wow.
MANIFIC HICHAM BRAVOOOOOOOOOOOO
Thank you for pointing that out
What a race!!!
the great run of el
zghouri mustafa kharbico ex raja da frankfurt hicham guerrouj grande atletta nummero 1 nel mondo allah ya3etih saha
im from porocco the spelling is right elgurouj but his first name is hicham not hikam
What would you do for a Klondike Bar?
1:46 for the last 800!! Are you kidding me??
Hicham El Guerrouj COOOOOOOL！XD
COMMENTARY GOT THAT WRONG AT 4:41 ABDI BILE RAN THE FASTEST LAST 800M EVER 1,45,9 1987 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!( with massive help from Steve cram of course)
Rui Silva ran a 51 second last lap to finish 3rd just behind Lagat and Guerrouj. Look at where he is at the bell! If would have even ran in 3rd last all race, didnt get bumped at about midaway it could have been a huge upset. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
@Magello95 They do in women's tennis.
El Guerrouj the gold, Lagat the silver, and Silva the bronze
@467076 I meant that there were runners who were faster, as in
'top end speed.' Gerrouj had amazing speed endurance, maintaining
a fast pace over a long period. For pure top speed, Coe was faster. He was
an 800 metre specialist too remember. Ngeny has the WR for 1 Km, and he
also has a faster top end speed than El