On 27 August 2003 in Paris, Hicham El Guerrouj secured his fourth consecutive World Championships 1500m title, a streak unmatched in the history of the event. No other man had won more than three, a mark he had already eclipsed two years earlier.
Four finals, one unchallenged run
The Paris final was a tense, tactical affair from the start. Frenchman Mehdi Baala grabbed the early lead before Spain's Reyes Estévez pushed the pace, El Guerrouj covering the move through a 57.70 opening lap and a 1:56.29 half.
At the bell, Fouad Chouki joined the breakaway, but the contest narrowed on the final bend. El Guerrouj accelerated off the turn and opened a clear gap, holding off Baala’s late charge inside the last 80 metres to win in 3:31.77 by a margin of 0.54 seconds.
The streak that began in Athens
His reign started in 1997, when he pulled away decisively at 900m in Athens, leaving defending champion Nourredine Morceli behind and crossing in 3:35.83. Victories in Seville in 1999 and Edmonton in 2001 followed, each delivered with an authority that marked the Moroccan as untouchable over the metric mile.
The streak stood atop a career already studded with world records — 3:26.00 for 1500m and 3:43.13 for the mile, both set before the third title. These marks endure decades later as the benchmarks for middle-distance running.
"It has been a difficult year for me since the Olympics, but thanks to my family, I was able to get up to the very front again," he had told reporters after his 2001 Edmonton victory, a sentiment that echoed through his Paris triumph.
Twelve months after sealing the four-timer, he completed the Olympic 1500m and 5000m double in Athens, the first man to do so since Paavo Nurmi in 1924. The Paris title was not the end, but the hard spine of an unparalleled career.
