The New York Times > Sports > Olympics > Track and Field: Guerrouj Gets His One Missing Honor
Aug. 24 - Hicham el-Guerrouj dropped to his knees and kissed the track, snapping the spell of two straight Olympic failures for himself and for Morocco.
With a defiant, redemptive kick, Guerrouj outlasted Bernard Lagat of Kenya in the final thrilling 50 meters of the men's 1,500-meter race on Tuesday and then edged him at the line by 12-hundredths of a second, a blink that became the achievement of a lifetime.