Jaouad Gharib

Jaouad Gharib, born on 22 May 1972 in Khenifra, Morocco, is a Moroccan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. He won the marathon at the 2003 World Championships and again at the 2005 World Championships, making him the second successive world champion in the event after Abel Anton, and he is notable because he only began running seriously at the age of twenty-two. He took up athletics after watching the Marrakech Marathon on television in 1992, and he won races for the Moroccan Royal Guard before his first international competitions in 2001, when he also won the track gold medal at the 2001 Mediterranean Games. Coaching from former Olympic champion Brahim Boutayeb helped him move to road events, and his 2003 world title came in a championship record 2:08:31 in only his second marathon. He was the silver medallist in the marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics.