There is none better to tell the Olympic tale of three time Olympian Hicham El Guerrouj than filmmaker Bud Greenspan. In "Bud Greenspan's Athens 2004: Stories of Olympic Glory", a 2006 Showtime production. Nearly twenty minutes of its 96 minute run time is used to explore the six finals that started at 8:55 on the evening of August 24, 2004, in front of the 80,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium. The women's pole vault competition would run the course of the evening and end with a new Olympic and world record. The men's 3000 meter steeplechase would be the first running event and in conclusion the same pattern emerged, in every Olympic games since 1968 where Kenya competed they proved victorious. In the women's 100 meter hurdles Joanna Hayes established a new Olympic record and in the women's 400 meters Williams-Darline from Bahamas brought home their nation's first individual gold medal. The decathletes completed their two day competition with the 1500 meter run where Roman Sebrele improved from his silver medal performance in Sydney four years earlier. The focus of this night would be on the last running event of the evening, the men's 1500 meters. This was likely the most anticipated track event of the games. El Guellouj and eleven other athletes took the line including Bernard Lagat, Rui Silva, Timothy Kiptanui, Ivan Heshko, Michael East, Reyes Estevez, Gert-Jan Liefers, Adil El Kaouch, Mulugeta Wendimu, Kamal Boulahfane, and Isaac Kiprono Songok. Yet before this race would be seen, a review of the experience of El Guerrouj's past two Olympic games are reviewed. Here is how Hicham El Guerrouj describes his quest for Olympic gold: "In Atlanta I was lacking experience. Before the final I had an incredible amount of stress and I was scared because it was my first time at the Olympics. There was so many spectators, the stadium was full and I was not prepared for this pressure so when the race started I was already in a different world. Falling at the bell lap was like a nighmare. A nightmare. In a fraction a a second I was on the ground" (Atlanta 1996); "Right before the race, three hours before, I started crying like a child. It had never happened to me before. I had thoughts that I might lose and once I entered the stadium I was scared. I did not have the confidence on the first lap, second lap, third lap. I did not have the energy and the sensation that I usually have and there he goes, Ngeny, goes by me. It's the rough spot, always" (Sydney 2000); "I lost in two Olympics and I did not want to lose a third one, especially at the Athens Games which were more important to me. It is the birthplace of the Olympics and the history here; in my mind Athens is the supreme arena. I decided to accelerate and take the lead. It was the best time for me to do so. In the last 700 meters I started to talk to myself telling my body to perform well to stay passionate and to ultimately win the race because it was such an important race for me. A race for history. I did not want to leave it as a loser. Lagat and I were shoulder to shoulder. He then passed me, then I passed him. That was the magical part. Once we crossed the finish, big relief. I was back to reality and I started to realize that I was an Olympic champion in Athens. It was a fantastic moment. I waited eight years to be on the Olympic podium, which for an athlete is a dream come true" (Athens 2004). Portions of all three Olympic 1500 meter finals are shown from 1996 to 2004 as well as the Athen's men's 5000 meter final held four days later where 10,000 meter champion Kenenisa Bekele tries holding off El Guerrouj down the homestretch. Will Lyman provides the excellent narration and in this segment of athletics the use of split screen is employed eight times, giving the real sense of a night of track and field with multiple events being held at the same time. The other touching stories that are included in this Olympic profile are of Mariel Zagunis (fencing), Pyrros Dimas (weightlifting), Otylia Jedrezejczak (swimming), Lisa Fernandez (softball), and Anna & Kerrie Meares (track cycling). Although not formally distributed at this time, keep your eyes out for this to appear on Showtime, as well as watch for a promotional copy to appear on eBay for you to own. On May 22, 2006, the worlds greatest miler, "The King of the Mile", Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, announced his retirement from athletics. He still maintains the world record in the 1500 meters, 3:26.00 (July 14, 1998), and mile run, 3:43:13 (June 7, 1999) and in addition to four World Outdoor Championship gold medals he was ranked number 1 in the world seven straight years.
