Triple world record holder and sporting icon Hicham El Guerrouj is set to join the team at ASPIRE, the Academy for Sports Excellence based in Doha, to offer encouragement and inspiration for the next generation of athletic hopefuls.
He was formally welcomed into the ASPIRE family at a ceremony in Doha today, where he had the opportunity to meet some of the student athletes and members of faculty.
El Guerrouj will join as an ASPIRE Ambassador and will work with the Academy to offer guidance and advice for current student athletes as well as backing wider sports inclusion programs for children in the Middle East and beyond.
Already boasting some of the world’s best coaches across a range of disciplines, attracting talents of the caliber of El Guerrouj will offer ASPIRE’s student athletes a unique source of learning and inspiration; his direct involvement providing invaluable support on their journey towards a career in sports.
The double Olympic champion, who holds the world record for the 1,500 meters, the mile and 2,000 meters, announced his retirement in May of this year and expressed his desire to continue to contribute to the development of sport throughout the region.
It is hoped that his work at ASPIRE will help inspire more young people in the region to become involved in athletics and may even encourage a few gifted individuals to attempt to emulate El Guerrouj’s astonishing track record.
El Guerrouj said: “I have watched ASPIRE develop as an institution from the very beginning and have been very impressed by its impact upon youth development in the Middle East and the wider Arab world. If my contribution helps to inspire more young athletes to train and develop their talents, it will be a worthwhile experience for us all.”
ASPIRE previously hosted El Guerrouj in November 2005, when he was one of the sporting legends present at the ceremony to inaugurate the opening of the world’s largest indoor sports dome on the ASPIRE campus.
Dr. Thomas Flock, Director General at ASPIRE, commented: “Hicham El Guerrouj is widely recognized as one of the greatest athletes in the history of international competition, so his association with us is both an honor and a major opportunity for our students.
“We hope that they will learn from his example and that – whatever levels of sport they are able to compete at in the future – they recognize the importance of character, ambition and the sporting spirit that Hicham El Guerrouj exemplifies.”
El Guerrouj was named “Best Athlete of the Year” by the IAAF in 2001 and 2002, becoming the first man to win consecutive titles since the award was created in 1988.
He has also received humanitarian awards from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and has been made a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
About ASPIRE
ASPIRE, the Academy for Sports Excellence, Doha, was created with the dual aims of identifying and transforming promising student athletes into world renowned champions across a wide range of sports and to act as a beacon to draw sporting culture into the centre of life in Qatar and the surrounding region.
The Academy is distinguished by a philosophy which aims to develop the whole student, providing them with full academic, social and sporting development.
Unrivalled facilities mark the Academy out as one of the world’s foremost sporting and educational institutions, and entice an ever increasing number of visitors from across the spectrum of world sports to use or simply view them. These same facilities will also play host to events during the forthcoming Asian Games 2006.
With one indoor and seven outdoor football pitches, athletics tracks, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, diving pool, combat arenas, gymnastics arena, specially designed weight rooms, lecture halls, dormitories to accommodate what will eventually become 1,000 students, a medical centre and more besides, much beneath the world’s largest purpose built indoor sports dome, every aspect of the development of elite athletes is catered for. ASPIRE is a place for those who dare to dream.
ASPIRE TODAY, INSPIRE TOMORROW
www.aspire.qa
