Updated 5 November 2007

Tarik BOUGUETAIB, Morocco (Long jump/ Triple Jump)

Born: 30 April 1981, Casablanca.
Coach: Mohammed Bouihiri

Tarik Bouguetaïb comes from a family of athletes. His father, Mustapha, was Moroccan champion and record holder in the Pole Vault and his mother, Fatima Meziane, was Arab champion in the 100m and Moroccan champion in the Long Jump. But, like most young Moroccans, Bouguetaib’s first sport was football. He used to be part of the youth team of the well-known Wydad of Casablanca but the family environment prevailed and he took to the horizontal jumps in the family’s club, WAC.

Bouguetaib was later called to the the Institut National d'Athletisme in Rabat by coach Mohammed Bouihiri (a friend of his father), with whom he managed to achieve the standard for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games (8.21m). But, in Athens, he finished 13th in his qualifying group with 7.79.

Although Bouguetaib did take part in the triple jump in his junior years, his performances were modest and he gave it up for a while. But he tried again in 2005 and, in his first competition, he crushed the national record, establishing a new mark of 16.45. He carried on that year brilliantly clinching the silver medal at the Mediterranean Games, in Almeria, Spain, with a 17.00m effort.

In 2006, Bouguetaib was crowned African Triple Jump champion in Bambous, Mauritius (17.25w) in August, and was the only Moroccan selected for the World Cup, in Athens in September, placing 6th (16.57m).

In 2007 he clinched two medals at the Arab Championships, in Amman, Jordan -  gold in the Triple Jump (16.39m) and silver in the Long Jump (7.79m). He then went on to set an African record of 17.37m in Khemisset on 14 July but he failed to make an impression at the World Championships, in Osaka, being eliminated in the qualifying round (16.45m for 24th).  
 

Yearly Progression
Long Jump/Triple Jump: 1999: - /14.80; 2001: 7.63 /15.00; 2002: 7.84 / 15.64; 2003: 7.94 /15.40; 2004: 8.21; 2005: 7.99 /17.00; 2006: 7.80, 7.86i /17.06, 17.25w; 2007: 7.79, 8.35w /17.37.

Personal Bests
Long Jump: 8.21 (2004)
Triple Jump: 17.37 (2007)

Career Highlights

2004 6th African Championships (Long Jump, 7.72)
2004 3rd Pan Arab Games (Long Jump, 7.77)
2005 2nd Mediterranean Games (Triple Jump, 17.00)
2005 7th Mediterranean Games (Long Jump, 7.84)
2005 1st Francophone Games (Triple Jump, 16.91)
2005 2nd Francophone Games (Long Jump, 7.78)
2006 1st African Championships (Triple Jump, 17.25w)
2007 1st Arab Championships (Triple Jump, 16.39)
2007 2nd  Arab Championships (Long Jump, 7.79)

Prepared by Mohammed Benchrif for the IAAF ‘Focus on Athletes’ project. Copyright IAAF 2007.