7 -13 December 2000
Issue No.511
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 7 -13 December 2000 Issue No.511 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Always on the go
The simplest form of sport is running and Moroccans seem to do it better than most. So says Nouzha Bidouane, the 1999 world 400-metre hurdles champion. The 31-year-old Moroccan, a bronze medalist in Sydney, says her countrymen are madly in love with anything that is remotely connected to sports. They will jog and walk starting from sunrise; cold, rain and mountains do not put a damper on things. At the Arab Mentally Handicapped Championship in Rabat, Bidouane told Al-Ahram's Bassem Sadek that the clear weather in Morocco "encourages us to practise sports."
Morocco's Nouzha Bidouane
Morocco reached its peak in 1984 when Nawal Al-Moutawakel and Said Oueita burst on the Olympic scene, winning two gold medals in the Los Angeles Games. In Atlanta, in 1996, there was no more gold as Morocco slipped to only three bronze medals and a silver. In Sydney, the curve rose slightly as the Maghreb nation notched a silver and four bronze, all but one of the bronze coming in its bread-and-butter sport of track. "Luckily, we haven't left the podium," Bidouane laughs.
Indeed, Morocco's Olympic success is the envy of all other Arab countries who for the most part cannot win anything in any Olympics. But in Sydney, Morocco should have gone back to its golden days. Hisham Al-Guerrouj was a pre-Olympic certainty for the gold in the 1,500 metres but failed to shift to third gear when it counted in the end.
A national institute for athletics in Rabat might produce the gold Morocco has longed to recapture. With around 120 Moroccan runners, it doubles as a school for primary year students and a training ground befitting would-be Olympic champions.
Bidouane's Rome time of 53.53 was the fastest in the world until Sandra Glover's victory this year at the US trials in 53.33. Renowned for her strong finishes, she thought she had won her second title at the world championships in Seville only to be pipped by 1/1000th of a second by Daimia Pernia. In Sydney, she took the bronze medal with a time of 53.57, behind Russian Irina Privalova.
Bidouane, 31, won gold medals in three Mediterranean Games and the 1998 world track and field championship. She advises beginners to be patient, train hard, trust their coaches and follow instructions.
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