Spanish-Moroccan Runner Mohamed Katir Shatters National Records, Eyes Olympic Medal

Born to a Moroccan father and an Egyptian mother, Mohamed Katir lived in Morocco until the age of 4 before joining Spain with his parents. The family lived in Huesca, near the Pyrenees, and then settled in Mula (Murcia), in southern Spain.

After a long struggle, Mohamed Katir obtained Spanish nationality in 2019. Today, he is the pride of Spain in athletics where he has broken all national records this year between June and July. Successively new Spanish record holder in the 5,000 meters (12:50.79), the 1,500 meters (3:28.76) and the 3,000 meters (7:27.64), the new phenomenon of Spanish athletics is attracting media attention.

Isaac Viciosa, who had held the 3,000 meter record for more than two decades, criticized Katir’s performance, stating in an interview with the website Corredor "that he would have liked his record to be broken by someone with a Castilian surname". He later published a letter of apology to Katir. "Right now, I’m 100% focused on my goals at the Tokyo Games and I’m not getting into any controversy on social media," Katir explained to AFP.

"What I want, and it’s my first goal, is to be in the final. And once I’m in the final, I’ll try to do my best," said Katir, who is aiming to return to Spain with a fourth record of the season, the first in the 5,000 meters at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Katir, whose athletic references are the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj or the Spaniard Fermin Cacho, also points out that the key to success lies in "work, work and work". "I’ve been working almost alone in the Sierra Nevada (southern Spain) for several months. Only those who do it regularly know how hard it is. But in the end, I think it was worth it," he stressed.