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In the early part of his career, Fermin Cacho had experienced difficulty
in making his mark on the world middle-distance running scene,
invariably trailing Noureddine Morceli (Algeria) home at major events
and championships. This all changed at the 1992 Olympic Games in
Barcelona, where Cacho won the gold medal in the 1500m, while Morceli
was relegated to 7th place. Cacho and Morceli resumed their rivalry in
1993, with the honours falling very much back on the side of the
Algerian.
Early in the season, in the 1500m at the Mediterranean Games
held in Narbonne, France on 20 June, Cacho finished second behind
Morceli, who set the year's fastest time of 3min 29.20sec. The major
event held that year was the World Championships at Stuttgart, and Cacho
and Morceli clashed in a couple of hotly-paced events in the weeks
leading up to the Championships. In the 1 mile race at the Bislett
Games in Oslo on 10 July, Morceli annihilated a world-class field,
including Cacho, won could only manage a 7th place finish. Fermin fared
much better in the Weltklasse meet at Zurich on 4 August, where he
finished second behind Morceli in the 1500m. Cacho's time of 3min
32.01sec was a personal best, and the only athlete to record a faster
time during 1993 was Morceli.
At Stuttgart, both Cacho and Morceli won
their heats of the 1500m on 19 August, which they then followed by
respectively winning the first and second semi-finals the following day.
After a slow start to the final held on 22 August, Morceli led a
furious sprint in the last lap to easily win the world title, embracing
Cacho (see photo above, in centre) who led the rest of the field home to claim the silver medal, after the finish. (Ron Casey)
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