Visually Impaired Spanish-Moroccan Athlete Wins Second Paralympic Gold, Eyes 1,500m Title

Born in Ouarzazate, Morocco, Yassine Ouhdadi is a visually impaired athlete. The 30-year-old has total blindness in his left eye and a visual reserve of 14% in his right eye. But this disability did not prevent him from becoming a Paralympic champion. Upon his arrival in Tarragona at the age of 6 with his parents and siblings, Yassine wanted to become a footballer. But his vision problems forced him to give up football for athletics at the age of 18.

The athlete began participating in international competitions in 2019. In a few months, he emerged as one of the promises of Spanish athletics by winning a second place at the World Championships in Dubai. Since then, he has only been racking up successes. To his credit, two medals at the 2021 European Championships (silver in the 5,000m and bronze in the 1,500m), gold at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the 5,000m and two more (gold in the 5,000m and silver in the 1,500m) at the recent World Championships in Paris.

To this record is added the gold he has just won at the Paris Paralympic Games in the 5,000 meters event, with a time of 15:50.64, far ahead of the Russian Kostin Aleksandr. The Moroccan-Spanish athlete thus wins his second Paralympic gold medal, after the one in Tokyo. "It’s something incredible and more exciting than in Tokyo because the stadium is full and your family is there and the whole group is cheering you on," he said after crossing the finish line. "All the work we have done has paid off."

After this feat, Yassine is already aiming for another goal: to win gold in the 1,500 meters on September 3, as his idol Hicham El Guerrouj did in Athens in 2004.

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