Khalid Skah
Khalid Skah (born January 29, 1967) is a Moroccan athlete, winner of 10 000 m at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Born in Midelt, Morocco, Khalid Skah established himself first as a good cross country runner by winning the World Cross Country Championships in 1990 and 1991.
His first major tournament on track was 1991 World Championships where he at first won a bronze in 10 000 m and then finished sixth at the 5000 m run.
At the Barcelona Olympics, Khalid Skah had a long duel with Richard Chelimo from Kenya in 10 000 m. When they were lapping another Moroccan Hammou Boutayeb, the latter interfered with Chelimo and Skah went to win a second ahead of Kenyan. After the race Skah was accused of receiving undue assistance from Boutayeb and was disqualified, but was later reinstated.
Skah finished fifth in 5000 m at the 1993 World Championships and ran his only world record in 2 miles (8:12.17) on the same season. He won the 1994 World Semi-Marathon Championships and finished second in 10 000 m at the 1995 World Championships.
Skah's last major international tournament was 1996 Summer Olympics, where he finished seventh in 10 000 m. In 1997, Skah applied for Norwegian citizenship, where he had lived and trained for years. After that, the Moroccan Athletics Association banned him from international competitions. Skah was reinstated in 2001 after which he tried a come-back to re-establish himself as one of the world's best long distance runners.
