Brahim Boutayeb had been considered more a 5000m runner before 1988.
However, after his gold medal victory in the 10000m at the Seoul Olympic
Games, where he clocked the fourth fastest time ever, it seemed that
his destiny lay with the longer distance. Although he competed in both
events during 1989, Boutayeb concentrated more on the shorter distances,
setting personal bests of 13min 12.10sec for 5000m on 25 July, 3min
38.50sec for 1500m on 2 August, and 7min 41.42sec for 3000m on 10
August. He followed this pattern in subsequent years, and though he ran
the occasional 10000m, he thenceforth only competed at 5000m in major
championships.
His 1990 season was relatively low key, although he had
significant victories over the season's leading runners over 5000m in
the Grand Prix final at Athens on 7 September, and at Rieti two days
later, where he clocked 13min 12.26sec. In 1991, Boutayeb seemed to be
at the peak of his form, recording a career best time for 3000m of 7min
38.39sec at Nice on 15 July, and then two days later, another career
best time of 13min 10.44sec over 5000m when finishing third at the
Golden Gala meet in Rome. Despite these improvements, Boutayeb faced
strong opposition in the 5000m at the World Championships in Tokyo on 1
September that year, where he won the bronze medal in the 5000m (see photo above 1st September 1991 © G.H.)
behind Kenyan Yobes Ondieki.
In the 5000m at the Barcelona Olympic
Games the next year, Boutayeb came fourth in a blanket finish of the
first four finishers, only 0.75sec behind the winner. After being
eliminated in his heat of the 5000m at the 1993 World Championships in
Stuttgart, Boutayeb effectively gave competitive athletics away,
preferring instead to concentrate on his new sporting interest as a
rally driver. (Ron Casey)
PERSONAL BESTS.
3000 Metres 7:48.13 Nice 18 JUL 1994
5000 Metres 13:10.44 Roma 17 JUL 1991
10000 Metres 27:21.46 Seoul 23 SEP 1988
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