Aouita, Said

Said Aouita dominated track and field running at medium (from 800 to 5000 meters) distances throughout the 1980s. At that time, he was the only one who ran 800 meters faster than 1.44 minutes, 1,500 meters faster than 3.30 minutes, 3,000 meters faster than 7.30 minutes, 5,000 meters faster than 13.00 minutes, and 10,000 meters faster than 27.30 minutes. He won the Olympic champions, such as Joaquim Cruz , Peter Rono , John Ngugi , Alberto Cova , in their corona distances. Between September 1983 and September 1990, he won 115 of 119 races in official competitions. He did not win world champion Steve Cram at a distance of 1500 meters, Olympic medalist Alessandro Lambruschini in the 3000 meters hurdles race , Joaquim Cruise and Paul Ehrenga at a distance of 800 meters, and Jobes Ondieki at a distance of 5000 meters.

The first competition of the highest level in which Aouita participated was the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki . Auita took part in competitions at a distance of 1500 meters. In the final run, the participants selected tactics with a low speed in the first two thirds of the distance. Such tactics did not suit Auita and he lost the final spurt , having come only by the third. After that, at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, he decided to compete at a distance of 5000 meters. In the final race, the Portuguese runner Antonio Leitan was set to a high pace, suitable for Auita. He held on to Leitan and walked around him at the finish.

The following season, Aouita set two world records: at a distance of 5000 meters (13.00,40), and then at a distance of 1500 meters (3.29.46). The record at the second distance is notable for a slow start: the first 400 meters were completed by him during a mediocre time of 57.0 seconds, at 800 meters, the indicator was 1.54 minutes, and only then it accelerated seriously. These records followed the most offensive defeat in his career: at competitions in Nice, not Aouita, but Steve Crum became the first man to run 1,500 meters faster than 3 and a half minutes. At the finish of this race, Auitt rushed after him, running the last 100 meters in 13.2 seconds, and the last 90 meters - in 11.8. He almost caught up with Kram, but he was still the first, destroying Auita’s dream.

In 1986, Auita won the IAAF Grand Prix series. The following year, he broke the Cram record at a distance of 2000 meters, and only six days later - his own world record at a distance of 5000 meters, becoming the first person to run her faster than 13 minutes (12.58.39).

At the 1987 World Championships in Rome , apparently, in order to mislead rivals, Auita was declared at four distances (800, 1500, 5000 and 10000 meters), but in the end decided to compete only at a distance of 5000 meters. In the final race, Kenyan runner John Nguni set a not very fast pace. Auita controlled the race all the time and won it with a score of 13: 26.44, starting the final spurt shortly before the last lap signal.

At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Auita set a new challenge. He was considered an expert on the 5000 meters distance, which he was the undisputed favorite, but decided to concentrate on shorter distances. Having easily qualified for the final race at a distance of 800 meters, he was forced, however, due to muscle damage, to put a bandage on his leg. The final race was set at a very high pace in order to neutralize Auita’s quick finish. He ran according to the plan, but the experts in this distance were ahead of him in the final spurt and he was only the third. This, however, made him the only person having Olympic medals at two distances so different in length (800 and 5000 meters). However, he aggravated the injury and, although he qualified for the semi-finals at a distance of 1500 meters, he was forced to refuse further participation in the Olympic tournament.

The following year, Auita won the world indoor championship in 1989 in Budapest at a distance of 3000 meters. Later, he broke the world record of 1978, Henri Rono at the same distance, but outdoors, running it for 7.29.45. He missed the 1990 season, and when he began to compete again, he could not return to the previous level. At the World Championships in 1991 in Tokyo, he was only eleventh at a distance of 1500 meters. However, a few days later at other competitions, he won the race at the same distance, ahead of all the world leaders in this discipline, with the exception of the absent Nureddin Morseli .

The 1992 season began promisingly for Auita: he set a world record for indoor at a distance of 3000 meters, which, however, was not officially registered for formal reasons. In May of the same year, Auita won the race for a mile and 1000 meters. However, the injury prevented him from taking part in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona . Subsequent attempts to return to the sport in 1993 and 1995 were unsuccessful.

After completing his sporting career, Aouita coached the Moroccan and Australian middle distance runners with varying success. In September 2008, he was appointed Technical Director of the Morocco Athletics Team. Said Aouita is also an analyst at Al Jazeera Sports, a sports channel.

• Aouita, Said - article from the Big Olympic Encyclopedia ( M. , 2006)