Abderrahim Goumri

ABDERAHHIM GOUMRI
MOROCCO

BIRTHDATE: 
May 21, 1976

PERSONAL BEST: 
2:05:30 (London, 2008)

WORLD MARATHON MAJORS:
04/26/09  Flora London Marathon  6th  2:08:25
11/02/08  ING New York City Marathon  2nd  2:09:07
08/24/08  Olympic Games Marathon  20th  2:15:00
04/13/08  Flora London Marathon  3rd  2:05:30
11/04/07  ING New York City Marathon  2nd  2:09:16
08/25/07  IAAF World Championships Marathon, Osaka  DNF
04/22/07  Flora London Marathon  2nd  2:07:44

CAREER NOTES:
The last man to challenge eventual winner Martin Lel at the 2007 Flora London was not one of the tested veterans such as Felix Limo, Jaouad Gharib, Paul Tergat or Haile Gebrselassie. Instead it was Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri, running his first 26.2-mile race, and he came up just three seconds in arrears in a sparkling marathon debut.

History was revisited at New York City in the fall as Goumri again wound up second to Lel, after sticking with the Kenyan until the final half-mile.

Goumri returned to London in 2008 where the results were good news and bad news. The bad was that he dropped to a third place finish, but the good was that he set a new Moroccan national record of 2:05:30. It was the fastest third place time in history and made him the sixth fastest marathoner of all-time.

Although picked as a medal contender for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Goumri could only place 15th in 2:15:00. He then returned to New York City where despite leading late in the race, he again wound up second.

At the 2009 Flora London Marathon, Goumri was part of the lead pack that hit the halfway mark in an astonishing 1:01:35. Despite taking almost 67 minutes to cover the second half, he still wound up sixth.

Goumri has had a solid career on the track placing eighth in the 2005 World Championships 10,000 meters (27:14.65) and 13th at the 2004 Olympic Games 5,000 meters (13:47.27). He has personal bests in those events of 27:02.62 and 12:50.25, respectively. He has represented Morocco on many occasions at the World Cross Country Championships and his first international appearance was with the 1995 junior team that earned a bronze medal.

PERSONAL NOTES:
Goumri was born in Safi, Morocco and his first organized athletics club was the Olympique de Safi. Other noted runners for that club have included Khalid and Brahim Boulami and Rachid Ramzi.