Mohamed Katir

Spanish runner (born 1998)

Mohamed Katir
Katir at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene
Personal information
Full nameMohamed Katir El Haouzi
NationalitySpanish
Born (1998-02-17) 17 February 1998 (age 26)[1]
Ksar el-Kebir, Morocco
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
CountrySpain
SportAthletics
Event(s)Middle-, Long-distance running, Cross country running
ClubPlayas de Castellón
Coached byGabriel Lorente
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Spain
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Budapest 5000 m
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Eugene 1500 m
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich 5000 m
European Cross Country Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Turin Senior team
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kraków-Małopolska 1500 m

Mohamed "Mo" Katir El Haouzi (born 17 February 1998) is a middle- and long-distance runner. Born in Morocco, he represents Spain. He won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. Katir took silver in the 5000 metres at the 2022 European Championships. He holds three Spanish records (1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m), is a two-time national champion, and is the European indoor record holder for the 3000 metres.

Katir is currently serving a two year, Anti-Doping Rule Violation competition ban due to expire on 6 February 2026.

Biography

Born in Ksar el-Kebir, Morocco, Mohamed Katir was raised in Mula, Murcia, Spain since he was 5 years old.[2][3][4] While Katir had previously run as a Spaniard in youth competitions and won a Spanish national cross championship,[5] he acquired Spanish citizenship in October 2019, after a 4-year long process.[6]

In May 2021, Katir won his first Diamond League event, securing victory in the 5000 metres at the Grand Prix Gateshead in United Kingdom.[1] In June and July, he broke three long-standing Spanish national records in just a 33-day span at the Diamond League meetings. First on 10 June, he ran a new 5000 m record of 12:50.79 at the Golden Gala in Florence, Italy.[7] Less than a month later, at the Herculis meet in Monaco, he set Spanish record in the 1500 metres, finishing second behind only 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot who set a personal best in the race. Katir's 3:28.76 ranked him as the 10th fastest of all time, just eight hundreds of a second off the European record.[8][9] Four days after that, he won the 3000 metres in Gateshead, United Kingdom with a time of 7:27.64, breaking Haile Gebrselassie meet record in the process. His time ranked him as 15th of all time at that distance.[10] At the end of the year, Katir won the San Silvestre Vallecana 10 kilometres road race in Madrid, setting yet another national best mark and becoming the first domestic winner of this race since 2003.[11]

On 15 February 2023, Katir set the European indoor 3000 m record at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin (in a race where Lamecha Girma set a world record) with a time of 7:24.68, slicing more than six seconds off the previous mark held by Adel Mechaal since 2022. His time surpassed the European outdoor 3000 m record of 7:26.62 and was inside the previous world indoor record of 7:24.90 set by Daniel Komen in 1998.[12][13]

On 7 February 2024 it was announced that Katir had been provisionally suspended by the AIU for whereabouts failures due to missing three doping tests in a twelve month period.[14] He is now serving a two year ban due to expire on 6 February 2026.[15][16][17]

Achievements

International competitions

Representing  Spain
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 4th 3000 m 7:49.72
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 8th 5000 m 13:06.60
2022 World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 3rd 1500 m 3:29.90
European Championships Munich, Germany 2nd 5000 m 13:22.98
European Cross Country Championships Turin, Italy 9th XC 9.572 km 30:06
2023 European Games Chorzów, Poland 1st 1500 m 3:36.95
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 16th (sf) 1500 m 3:33.56
2nd 5000 m 13:11.44

Circuit wins, and National titles

Personal bests

Road

References

  1. ^ a b Mohamed Katir at World Athletics
  2. ^ "Mohamed Katir: "Quiero vivir del atletismo y creo que va a ser posible"". La Vanguardia. 6 February 2021.
  3. ^ Sáez Bravo, Lucas (15 July 2021). "Mohamed Katir, el repentino fenómeno español del mediofondo que ya aspira al oro en Tokio: lee poesía, entrena en un descampado y su padre llegó en patera". El Mundo.
  4. ^ Asprón, Javier (11 July 2021). "Mohamed Katir: melena al viento y alma de poeta". ABC.
  5. ^ "Mohamed Katir: el atleta que lleva esperando 3 años su nacionalidad". Parainmigrantes. 4 March 2019.
  6. ^ García, Dioni (29 October 2019). "Mohamed Katir ya es español". La Opinión de Murcia.
  7. ^ "Wanda Diamond League | Asics Firenze Marathon Stadium Luigi Ridolfi – 10 June 2021 | Result lists" (PDF). Diamond League. 10 June 2021. p. 2. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Wanda Diamond League | Stade Louis II - Monaco (MON) – 9 July 2021 | Result lists" (PDF). Diamond League. 9 July 2021. p. 2. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Muir motors to 1:56.73 victory over 800m in Monaco". European Athletics. 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  10. ^ "2021 British Grand Prix Recap: Mohamed Katir (7:27) Wins Big Again, Trayvon Bromell (9.98) Back in Form in Final Diamond League Before Olympics". LetsRun.com. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Katir and Klosterhalfen provide the New Year's Eve highlights". European Athletics. 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  12. ^ Henderson, Jason (15 February 2023). "Girma takes down Komen's world 3000m record in Liévin". AW. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  13. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (15 February 2023). "European record! Katir clocks 7:24.68 for 3000m in record-breaking race in Lievin". European Athletics. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  14. ^ "World 5,000m silver medallist Katir suspended for doping test violation". Reuters. Reuters. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  15. ^ Carveth, Jessy (8 February 2024). "Two-Time Word Medalist Mo Katir Suspended For Whereabouts Failure". Marathon Handbook. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  16. ^ "KATIR BANNED FOR 'WHEREABOUTS FAILURES'" (PDF). Athletics Integrity Unit. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Mohamed Katir: World 5,000m silver medallist given two-year ban for anti-doping rule violation". BBC News. 17 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

External links

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