By N.D. Prashant
MOROCCAN running legend and 1984 Olympics 5,000m gold medallist Said Aouita is currently a resident of Qatar. Working as a sports analyst with Al Jazeera, Aouita has followed sports in Qatar from up close and feels it’s the vision of the authorities that has made Qatar the sporting hub in the world.
“This country is developing not just every day but by every second. HH The Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has a great vision about how Qatar’s future should be and the changes you see are a result of that,” said Aouita who dominated running in the 1980s at all distances between 800 and 5,000 metres.
These Asian Games will put more pressure on the countries that will be organising the event in future, Aouita feels.
“Seeing the stadiums and facilities, Qatar has already succeeded even before the Games have started. Now the next host country (China) will be under tremendous pressure to raise their level to match Qatar’s standards,” said Aouita, who won 115 of his 119 races in between 1983 and 1990.
Aoutia pointed out that most countries in the Middle East are following Morocco’s strategy.
“Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and others are following the strategy of having academies. This is giving them results as well. But to stand out from the crowd, you need to keep working and cannot stick to one strategy for long.
“For football in this country we have proper planning and result is there to see. Athletics, yes, we need to draw new guidelines. The talent, the facilities are here; you need to draw an objective for the athlete and then a proper strategy to make sure he reaches the goal,” says Aouita.
Like many, Aouita too is sure that it will be a cakewalk for world champion Said Saif Shaheen in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Asian Games.
However, he was also of the view that Shaheen has all the qualities to make his presence felt in the 5,000 metres and 1,500 metres.
“Shaheen can do well in both 5,000 metres and 1,500 metres, not just at the Asian level but also at the Olympics. He might face a little problem in the 1,500 metres but 5,000 metres shouldn’t be any problem,” said Aouita, who set a new example by winning bronze in the 800 metres race.
Having dominated the middle and short-distance running like nobody’s business, Aouita is of the view that it is possible to run more events if you are a good 1,500m runner.
“In middle-distance and long-distance running, I found my critical point was the 1,500m. And once I could run 1,500m well, it became easy for me to do well in the 800, 3,000 and 5,000 metres. And whatever strategy I used, I asked the athletes in my academy in Morocco in 1884-85 to follow suit. And we got some world-class runners after that,” informed Aouita, whose academy produced over 22 athletes for the next Olympics in 1988.
By the early 90s, Aouita had won all the big races and there was no fire in his belly to excel. Something similar on the lines of Said Shaheen, who said recently ‘there is no-one to give me a real challenge out there.’
However, Aouita cautioned the youngster to keep such thoughts away from his mind.
“My case was different; I had passed my prime and was in the early 30s. You name the title and I had won it. But that’s not the case with Shaheen. He is yet to win an Olympic medal and needs to keep his hunger going. I was beaten at the death at the World Championships at Tokyo in 1991 by youngster Noureddine Morceli and when he passed me with 200 metres to finish, I just stopped. I walked to the finish. I told myself ‘what are you doing, you have to give way someday’.”
These words of advice from the legend should be enough for Shaheen to keep Qatar’s flag fluttering for years to come. |
