Spanish-Moroccan Runner Madjida Maayouf Sets Sights on Paris 2024 Olympics

Born in Brarha to a family of eight brothers and sisters, Madjida Maayouf, 34, started practicing athletics in Meknes, Morocco at the age of 12, but "had to stop temporarily for about five years due to severe anemia". "A coach I didn’t know had me train in the morning and afternoon and I ended up getting sick. We didn’t have the money to treat me. I was an international for Morocco in the lower categories but life brought me to Spain," she confides to Cadena SER.

And she adds: "I spent two months in Getafe, then I lived in Bilbao for almost a year and finally I stayed in Álava. First in Vitoria, then in Alegría because of the rental price and now I live in Salvatierra. Meknes and Vitoria have a similar altitude (600 and 700 meters respectively)". Madjida Maayouf recorded a time of 02:21 in the Valencia marathon, beating the Spanish record held by Marta Galimany. But her performance had not been validated because she did not have Spanish nationality.

"Now I can say that I feel more Spanish than Moroccan... For the moment, this record does not count as a Spanish record, so I will have to do it again. I live here, I have my daughter and my family here and I don’t go back to Morocco. When I go there on vacation to see my parents, I know for sure that my home is in Salvatierra," she added, recalling that she was champion for three consecutive years in cross-country and 1,500m for the lower categories in Morocco.

The athlete of Moroccan origin now competes with Asics. "I was with BM Bilbao Santutxu, where they helped me a lot to get my papers. Now I’m with Asics... I don’t forget all the people who helped me in this process," explains Madjida Maayouf, who will not participate in the World Championships in Budapest in August, but "hopes to participate in the World Half Marathon in Riga on October 1 or the European Cross Country in Brussels in December". But her goal is the Paris Olympics in 2024. "I’m working hard for this appointment and I hope I can make this dream come true".