Khalid Skah
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Khalid Skah (born January 29, 1967) is a Moroccan athlete, winner of 10 000 m at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Born in Midelt, Morocco, Khalid Skah established himself first as a good cross country runner by winning the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1990 and 1991.
His first major tournament on track was 1991 World Championships where he at first won a bronze in 10 000 m and then finished sixth at the 5000 m run. This was a disppointing outcome for Skah as, earlier in the season, he had won the 10000m race in Oslo against a very strong field and had emerged as one of the favourites for the finals in Tokyo. However, for the 10 000m final Richard Chelimo and the eventual world champion, Moses Tanui (both Kenya) employed some very elaborate tactics and worked as a team. By the time of the 5000m final Skah was probably tired. Yobes Ondieki (Kenya) who won the gold medal over 5000m had expected him to be his major rival.
At the Barcelona Olympics, Khalid Skah had a long duel with Richard Chelimo from Kenya in 10 000 m. When they were lapping another Moroccan Hammou Boutayeb, the latter interfered with Chelimo and Skah went to win a second ahead of Kenyan. After the race Skah was accused of receiving undue assistance from Boutayeb and was disqualified, but was later reinstated on a technicality. During the presentation ceremony, held the next day, Skah was loudly booed by the crowd as he received his medal; Chelimo received a standing ovation.
In 1993 Skah won the 5000m race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he finished fifth in 5000 m at the 1993 World Championships. He ran his only world record in 2 miles (8:12.17) on the same season. He won the 1994 World Semi-Marathon Championships and finished second in 10 000 m at the 1995 World Championships.
Skah's last major international tournament was 1996 Summer Olympics, where he finished seventh in 10 000 m. In 1997, Skah applied for Norwegian citizenship, where he had lived and trained for years. After that, the Moroccan Athletics Association banned him from international competitions. Skah was reinstated in 2001 after which he tried a come-back to re-establish himself as one of the world's best long distance runners, finishing tenth in the World Half Marathon Championships that year.
| Olympic champions in men's 5 miles and 10000 m |
|---|
| As five miles: 1906: Henry Hawtrey | 1908: Emil Voigt |
| As 10000 metres: 1912: Hannes Kolehmainen | 1920: Paavo Nurmi | 1924: Ville Ritola | 1928: Paavo Nurmi | 1932: Janusz Kusociński | 1936: Ilmari Salminen | 1948: Emil Zátopek | 1952: Emil Zátopek | 1956: Vladimir Kuts | 1960: Pyotr Bolotnikov | 1964: Billy Mills | 1968: Naftali Temu | 1972: Lasse Virén | 1976: Lasse Virén |1980: Miruts Yifter | 1984: Alberto Cova | 1988: Brahim Boutayeb | 1992: Khalid Skah | 1996: Haile Gebrselassie | 2000: Haile Gebrselassie | 2004: Kenenisa Bekele |
