Morocco's Olympic hopes.

With the Olympics coming up we decided to have a look at how Morocco hopes to go in the hunt for medals. If history is anything to go by, the chances are slim, but that it not to say that Morocco will not gain medals.

Above - Hicham El Guerrouj wins the men's 1,500 metres gold medal in Athens.
Below - Morocco's Hasna Benhassi (l), Britain's Kelly Holmes, gold medallist (c) and Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia pose with their medals for the women's 800 meters

A Chance in Taekwando?

Morocco's taekwondo team are hoping to break their Olympic medal drought an extensive training programme held in Dubai. According to Morocco's chief taekwondo coach, Hassan Esmaili, "We are confident of bringing home at least one medal from Beijing."

The Moroccan taekwondo team made a clean sweep at the Arab Championships Cup held in Bahrain last month. The Moroccan women's team secured the top honours among the ten participating countries winning four gold, one silver and two bronze.

Representing Morocco in Beijing will be Ghizlan Toudali in the under 49kgs category, while Mona Bin Abd Al Rasool will participate in the under 67kgs category - the same as Shaikha Maitha. Abdul Kader Zaroori will take part in the over 80kgs category for men.

"Given the talent these players have shown in the past, I won't be mistaken if we do win our first ever Olympic medal for Morocco," the coach said.

Zaroor won a silver at the World Taekwondo Championships in Spain (2005) and followed this with a bronze at the World Taekwondo Championships in Beijing last year.

"The competition is going to be tough at the Olympics, but we feel confident we will realise the dream for Morocco," Esmaili said.

Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (top row, fourth from left), with the Morocco National taekwondo team at the Zabeel Club in Dubai.

The Moroccan team will continue training in Dubai till later this week. Their next stop will be a camp in Tunisia before leaving for Korea for one final training stop and their departure to China for the Olympics.

Morocco's Olympic Medal Tally

Track and Field

1960 Marathon Men Rhadi Ben Abdesselam 2:15:41 SILVER
1984 5000m Men Said Aouita 13:05.59 GOLD
1984 400m Hurdles Women Nawal El Moutawakel 54.61 GOLD
1988 800m Men Said Aouita 1:44.06 BRONZE
1988 10000m Men Brahim Boutayeb 27:21.46 GOLD
1992 1500m Men Rachid El Basir 3:40.62 SILVER
1992 10000m Men Khalid Skah 27:46.70 GOLD
1996 5000m Men Khalid Boulami 13:08.37 BRONZE
1996 10000m Men Salah Hissou 27:28.59 BRONZE
2000 1500m Men Hicham el Guerrouj 3:32.32 SILVER
2000 5000m Men Brahim Lahlafi 13:36.47 BRONZE
2000 3000m Steeplechase Men Ali Ezzine 8:22.15 BRONZE
2000 400m Hurdles Women Nouzha Bidouane 53.57 BRONZE
2004 1500m Men Hicham el Guerrouj 3:34.18 GOLD
2004 5000m Men Hicham el Guerrouj 13:14.39 GOLD
2004 800m Women Hasna Benhassi 1:56.43 SILVER

Boxing

1988 Featherweight Abdelhak Achik BRONZE
1992 Bantamweight Mohamed Achik BRONZE
2000 Featherweight Tahar Tamsamani BRONZE

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