Khalid Skah

Khalid Skah

Skah in London in 2012
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing Morocco
Olympic Games
	1992 Barcelona	10,000 m
World Championships
	1995 Gothenburg	10,000 m
	1991 Tokyo	10,000 m
Mediterranean Games
	1993 Narbonne	10,000 m

Khalid Skah (Arabic: خالد سكاح) (born 29 January 1967) is a Moroccan track and field athlete, winner* of the 10,000 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Born in Midelt, Morocco, Skah established himself first as a good cross country runner by winning the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1990 and 1991.

Racing career

1991 World Championships

His first major tournament on track was the 1991 World Championships where he first won a bronze in 10,000 m and then finished sixth at the 5000 m run. This was a disappointing outcome for Skah as, earlier in the season, he had won the 10000 m race in Oslo against a very strong field and had emerged as one of the favourites for the finals in Tokyo. However, for the 10 000 m final Richard Chelimo and the eventual world champion, Moses Tanui (both of Kenya), employed some very elaborate tactics and worked as a team. By the time of the 5000 m final Skah was probably tired. Yobes Ondieki of Kenya, who won the gold medal in the 5000 m, had expected Skah to be his major rival.

1992 Olympics

The following year, at the Barcelona Olympics, Skah met Chelimo again. With three laps remaining in the 10,000 m final, the two athletes were clear and battling for the gold medal. At this point the pair came to lap another Moroccan athlete, Hammou Boutayeb, who stayed with the leaders even after being lapped. The rules state that a lapped runner cannot "assist" another runner but, although Boutayeb's actions were interpreted as unsportsmanlike by the crowd, it was not certain that there was collusion. Nevertheless Skah gained advantage, Chelimo was disadvantaged. These events incensed the Spanish crowd, and the Swedish track judge Carl-Gustav Tollemar attempted to stop Boutayeb.

During the final 150 m Skah sprinted away from Chelimo to win the race and was disqualified, making Chelimo the Olympic champion. However, the Moroccans appealed the disqualification and Skah was reinstated as Olympic champion the next morning, because the rule under which he was disqualified did not define a penalty.

Other races

In 1993 Skah won the 5000 m race at Weltklasse Zürich. However, he finished fifth in 5000 m at the 1993 World Championships. He ran his only world record in 2 miles (8:12.17) in 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 meet was the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he finished seventh in the 10 000 m. In 1995, Skah was given Norwegian citizenship, where he lived and trained with athletes club B.U.L. After that, the Moroccan Athletics Association banned him from international competitions. Skah was reinstated in 2001, after which he tried a comeback to re-establish himself as one of the world's best long distance runners, finishing tenth in the World Half Marathon Championships that year.

External links

Khalid Skah at World Athletics