Morceli after winning Olympic Gold in the 1500m in 1996
1 Sep - Morceli ended the season with 10 victories, most notable were his Goodwill Games win over Komen and Tanui and his recent Lausanne win over the best of the Kenyans. It should be noted that most of these wins were in smal ler meets and this was his weakest season time-wise since his emergence on the world scene in 1990 as a twenty year old (see progressions). This site will continue to have updates in terms of articles and pictures. Please check out Sean Hartnett's Morceli Olympic Story, the best review of Morceli's 1996 win in Atlanta...
But if the 100 is set to be a thriller so is the 3000 metres, where the impeccable Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) is in record breaking mood. The Algerian Noureddine Morceli is in the race as are the Moroccans Salah El Gahzi, Brahim Lahlafi and El Hassane Lahssini and a formidable group of Kenyans: Tom Nyariki, Luke Kipkosgei, Richard Limo, Martin Keino and Paul Tergat. The best non-African contenders are Bob Kennedy (USA) and 1992 Olympic 5000m champion Dieter Baumann.
5 Aug - Kenyan John Kibowen (#2 Miler so far this year) outkicked Morceli for victory for the second time this year in the DN-Galan/Stockholm mile this evening. Kibowen ran 3:51.32 to Morceli's 3:
52.08....The race unfolded with Kibowen going with the rabbits and Morceli leading the chase group 20m behind and almost catching Kibowen on the last lap. See report for more details. 4 Aug - Morceli to run at the DN-Galan meeting in Stockholm tomorrow night. He'll be facing William Tanui and John Kibowen in the mile.3 Aug - Morceli is back, winning the MAI-Galan/Stockholm meet in 3:34.01 tonight.3 Aug - check out Dave Monti's RunnersWorld Online interview with Morceli - here2 Aug - sorry this is late: Morceli moved out of the Gaz de France Mile (Jul 29) and into the 3000, but after staying with Komen and the pacemakers through the 1000 in 2:27 and mile in 3:58, he started slowing down around the m
ile but still passed the 2k in 4:59 but pulled out at the 2100m mark citing a pulled right thigh muscle. Komen went on to win in 7:34.24 Jul - Morceli to run the 1500m in the Gaz de France meeting in Paris in 5 days. He will be facing El Guerrouj who will be gunning for another improvement in his 1500m WR mar
k.
21 Jul - Morceli continued his winning streak by taking the 1998 Goodwill Games Mile over William Tanui and Daniel Komen in 3:53. This is the second time Morceli has won the GWG - h
e won in 1994 in St.Petersburg in 3:48...20 Jul - El Guerrouj just misses Morceli's 2000m WR. El Guerrouj ran the second fastest time ever, coming about one second short of the record of 4:47.88.17 Jul - Morceli's DNS was the result of a pulled thigh muscle in his right leg. El Guerrouj is gunning for Morceli's 2000m WR of 4:47.88 this Sunday at Gateshead...16 Jul - Morceli was a no-show at Nice tonight; El Guerrouj won the mile but narrowly missed Morceli's record of 3:44.39 with a 3:44.60....16 Jul - Morceli to go against new 1500m-WR-holder El Guerrouj tonight in Nice in the mile! ElG is looking to break the WR in the mile there as well...Preview16 Jul - Morceli entered in Goodwill Games Mile. He will have fiercest competition from Kenyan Daniel Komen. The race goes off on the 21st.14 Jul - Maroc's Hicham El Guerrouj toppled Morceli's 1500m record of 3:27.37 by cranking a 3:26.00 in Rome today...See Report1 a
nd Report2
13 Jul - Recent startlists have shown that Morceli is skipping some of the early Golden League meets, reasons unknown. There is a good chance he will appear at the
Gaz de France meeting in Paris on July 25, 1998 to race against El Guerrouj (who is looking to break the 1500m WR there), Venuste Niyongabo, and Laban Rotich.9 Jul - Morceli won the mile in a world-leading mark of 3:50.68 at the Zagreb International Meeting on the 7th of July. Matthew Birir was nearly 4 seconds back...8 Jul - The startlist for the Mobil Bislett Games is up, however Morceli is not entered in any of the events. The 1500m is loaded with Daniel Komen and Hicham El Guerrouj, both
looking to take Morceli's record down.29 Jun - Morceli runs another 3:34 to easily win the Cork City Sports Meet last Saturday in Ireland. Windy conditions prevented him from going around 3:31 as hoped.18 Jun - A 3:34.44 1500m gave Morceli an easy win at the Tsiklitireia 98 International Meeting yesterday.17 Jun - Morceli running at Athens tonight at the "tsiklitireia 98" International Meeting. Morceli will have fierce competition from Kenyans Paul Mwangi and Noah Ngeny (see start list). Morceli has also committed to run at the Cork City Sports meet in Ireland next Saturday.10 Jun - New page: About this Site8 Jun - Morceli turned in a slowish 4:58.08 victory at the Memorial Josefa Odlozia meet today. Ed Gordon commented: The Nigerian put on a push with about 150 to go, but Morceli found an extra gear over the last 80 meters to win. I don't think that Morceli had given the guy a thought.
16 May - Morceli snaps Brian Hyde's MR with a solid 3:54.09 Mile in cold, driving rain at the adidas Oregon Track Classic.16 May - Morceli to go after his US all-comers mile record of 3:50.86 (Atlanta GP 1996) today at the adidas Oregon Track Classic. He'll be aided by his two rabbits: Abdelkrim Benzai and Baghdad Racham, both from Algeria.11 May - Doubt sorrounding Morceli's competitiveness and fitness hardens after his second consecutive loss this season. Morceli took second by 1.5 seconds to Uganda's Julius Achon at the Osaka GP this Saturday. In his defense
, he did have to run immediately after hopping off the long plane ride
from Qatar...8 May - Kenyan John Kibowen tops Morceli at the Doha International Meet in Qatar. Morceli to run in Japan this Saturday...5 May - Morceli to run the mile this Thursday at the Qatar Iternational meeting. Also, Kenyan superstar Daniel Komen said he would open his season at the Prefontaine Classic with an assault on Morceli's Mile WR of 3:44.39 and
shoot for the 1500m record later in the summer...4 May - Morceli opens the season with a 3:34.99 victory at the Rio Grand Prix meet in Brazil. After the
race, Morceli said that he was happy with the result: "I am surprised how fast the race was,
it is very hot and I am not used to running so early in the morning."28 Apr - Morceli to kick off the 1998 outdoor season at the adidas Oregon Track Classic on May 16. He is currently entered in the mile and should have an easy shot at breaking t
he meet record of 3:56 (Brian Hyde 1997). Check out the 1998 Season Reports for more info.18 Mar - Morceli Home Page tops 10,000 hits!21 Feb - Morceli was a question mark on the startlist for the 1500m at the Lievin...results from the race the next day revealed Morceli did not run. However ElGuerrouj did win it in a fair time of 3:33 showing he has recovered
from his abductor injury.19 Feb - Morceli spotted in Ireland seeing one of the top physio's (thanks to Danny Herlihy)
Whew! Season over. Morceli made it through this rough-and-tumble 97 season by notching two respectable wins at Tokyo and Rieti in the 1500. Unfortunately, he did lose the WC title and was not the fastest miler/1500 of the yea
r. As for the site, there will be updated reports, results, and statistics of Morceli by the weekend to close the 1997 season. Hopefully some more pictures too as well. So stay tuned....1997 Competition (courtesy Jon Berenbom)