Mohamed Benchrif for the IAAF
19 February 2001 - 1500m World champion and World record holder Hicham El Guerrouj will make his first appearance this winter season next Friday in Ghent, Belgium, where he is scheduled to compete in the two mile race. Two times World Indoor Champion at 1500m - in Barcelona 1995 and Paris 1997 - El Guerrouj has not competed indoors since 1999. Friday will also be his first ever competition indoor over two miles.
Hicham El Guerrouj has held the World indoor Mile record since 12 February 1997, when he clocked 3:48.45 on this same Belgian track. Ten days earlier in Stuttgart he had smashed the 1500m world indoor record with a time of 3:31.18.
El Guerrouj is scheduled to hold two press conferences: the first on Wednesday in Ghent and the second on Monday in Paris. He will tell the press about his participation in this summer's Paris-Saint Denis Meeting (7 July), one of the seven legs of the prestigious IAAF Golden League circuit.
El Guerrouj whose main objective this year will be the defence of his world title in Edmonton, Canada, 3 to 12 August, underwent a medical check up last week in Paris before launching his indoor campaign.