Track: Ghosts haunt star's bid for glory

By EUGENE BINGHAM

For the hot favourite, the buildup to the Olympic 1500m final is becoming an ordeal of blood, sweat and tears.

The blood and sweat were running down Hicham El Guerrouj's sleek body after he won a rough-house heat yesterday.

The tears flow each night when he is alone, thinking of the prize he so desperately wants.

"When I am on my own in my room, I cry each time I think about the final," El Guerrouj said after his heat.

It is a sign of the burden the 26-year-old Moroccan bears. Not only is he weighed down by the pressure of being favourite for the 1500m gold medal, he carries the haunting memory of what happened to him four years ago.

With one lap to go in the Olympic final at Atlanta, El Guerrouj caught the heel of eventual winner Nourredine Morceli and crashed to the track.

The nightmare nearly replayed for him yesterday in his first round race when, 300m from the start, another runner's spiked shoe ripped a gash on his shin.

He stayed on his feet, but the pain remained throughout the race.

"I took the lead because I didn't want to be in the same situation as Atlanta," he said.

"I wanted to accelerate but my leg was painful."

It didn't show. After 800m, the world record-holder seized control of the race and never relinquished it.

With the race under control, he did ease up on the home straight and even stretched his hand back to second-placed Jose Antonio Redolat, of Spain, as he loped across the line in 3m 38.57s.

Afterwards, beneath the stadium, El Guerrouj showed his bloody shin then sat down to watch the other two heats on television.

Around him, other giants of the middle distance world, such as Morceli and Kenyans William Chirchir and Noah Ngeny, went about getting changed themselves.

Not El Guerrouj. A band of four helpers did it for him, taking off his shoes and singlet, dabbing away the blood, and helping him into a sweatshirt and tracksuit.

He was oblivious to their efforts, transfixed by the television.

When finally the races were over, he was ready to talk.

"I'm happy with my preparation, physically and mentally, and I'm really looking forward to a very hot final," he said through a French interpreter (he speaks French and Arabic).

"I'm preparing myself on my own, studying the Koran."

The routine is much the same as it has been since 1996. A committed Muslim, El Guerrouj spends nearly every moment training, praying and thinking about his desire to win at the Olympics.

Before the 1996 final, El Guerrouj carried around a picture of Morceli because he was so determined to beat the Algerian favourite.

Morceli, who yesterday raced his first international event of the season to qualify for the semifinals, is no longer the main threat.

That comes from the demons that have haunted El Guerrouj for four years, the spirits he needs to exorcise on Friday night.