Which country did Hicham El Guerrouj represent?

Which country did Hicham El Guerrouj represent? Hicham El Guerrouj represented Morocco.

Born in Berkane, Morocco, in 1974, El Guerrouj became one of the greatest middle-distance runners in athletics history. He competed internationally for Morocco in the 1,500 metres, mile, 2,000 metres and 5,000 metres, rather than for any of the neighboring North African countries listed as alternatives.

El Guerrouj’s career combined remarkable speed with tactical strength. He set the 1,500-metre world record of 3:26.00 in Rome in 1998, and his mile world record of 3:43.13, set in 1999, stood for many years. He also won four consecutive outdoor world titles in the 1,500 metres from 1997 through 2003.

His defining Olympic achievement came in Athens in 2004, where he won both the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres. That made him the first man since Finland’s Paavo Nurmi in 1924 to complete that Olympic distance double. His Moroccan identity is therefore central to both his biography and his international medal record.