Two Moroccans in the Run for Spanish Indoor Athletics Championship

Rabat - Moroccan-born Spanish athletes Adel Mechaal and Mohamed Katir El Haouzi are two front runners for Spanish Indoor Athletics Championships in 2022 in Orense, northwestern Spain.

Rabat – Moroccan-born Spanish athletes Adel Mechaal and Mohamed Katir El Haouzi are two front runners for Spanish Indoor Athletics Championships in 2022 in Orense, northwestern Spain.

Both athletes hold impressive records in medium and long-distance running tournaments. Mechaal set a new European indoor record earlier this month after completing 3000 meters in 7m 30.82s at “New Balance Indoor Grand Prix,” the annual indoor track and field tournament held in New York.

Mohamed Katir is the 27th all-time fastest runner to ever compete at Golden Gala, the annual track and field tournament. The athlete claimed the record upon completing 5000 meters in a personal best time of 12:50.79s in June 2021.

Commenting on the upcoming tournament, Mechaal told Spanish sports newspaper Marca that the prospect of competing alongside Katir had pushed him to improve.

Outlining his future plans, Mechaal said that he was determined to outperform Spanish Fermin Cacho, the record holder at the 1,500 outdoors. However, after Katir broke Cacho’s record, Mechaal now is bent on snatching the record from Katir in Bermingham on February 19.

The Bermingham tournament is not the first time the two Moroccan champions meet head to head though. In September 2021, Katir and Mechaal competed for the Diamond League title in Brussels, where Mechaal finished ninth and Katir arrived seventh.

In March of the same year, the two athletes competed for the Torun European Championship, where Mechaal arrived third, and Katir arrived fourth. They also met again in the Spanish Championship in 2021 when Mechaal ranked higher than Katir.

For 2021, it was two victories for Mechaal and one for Katir, Mechaal told Marca laughing.