Zouhair Talbi

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Zouhair Talbi
Personal information
Born (1995-04-08) 8 April 1995 (age 29)
Tighassaline, Khenifra, Morocco
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight145 lb (66 kg)
Sport
SportAthletics
Events
College teamOklahoma City Stars
Achievements and titles
Personal bests

Zouhair Talbi (born 8 April 1995) is a Moroccan born, USA based long distance runner.[1]

Career[edit]

Originally from Tighassaline, Khenifra, Morocco, he was a keen soccer player before transitioning to distance running as a teenager. After excelling, at the age of 18 years-old he competed in the U20 race at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and placed 14th overall. In 2018, he competed in the Oslo Diamond League event in Oslo, running 28:31 to place 4th in the 10,000m.[2] He decided to move to the United States and studied at the Northwest Kansas Technical College, and then moved to Oklahoma City University.[3] He was a 2015 World University Games silver medalist.[4] He set a 28:02 personal best in Portland, Oregon in 2019.[5]

On May 14, 2021, he met the Olympic qualifying standard as he won the 10,000m at the Sound Running Track Meet in California and in doing so improved his personal best from 28:02 to 27:20:61.[6] It was the second-fastest performance ever by a collegiate athlete and ranked No. 7 in the world for the year so far. Displaying a fast finish Talbi was in third with two laps remaining before covering the final 400 meters in 59.41 seconds to beat Emmanuel Bor and Joe Klecker.[7] However, Talbi had to be pulled from the Olympics shortly before the commencement as he had not met the drug testing requirements for an athlete from Morocco.[2]

In 2023, he set a new half marathon personal best of 1:01:08 to finish fifth at the 2023 Houston Half Marathon.[8][9] Later in 2023 Talbi ran 2:08.35 to finish fifth at the Boston Marathon.[10]

On 14 January 2024, he set a new course record time of 2:06.39 to win the Houston Marathon.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Zouhair TALBI | Profile". worldathletics.org.
  2. ^ a b Geula, Alex (August 9, 2023). "From NAIA to Beating Kipchoge: The Zouhair Talbi Story". Lets Run. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Zouhair Talbi - 2020-21 - Oklahoma City University". www.ocusports.com.
  4. ^ "World University Games Medalist Morocco Zouhair Talbi Beats American Soldier Emmanuel Bor". May 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "Zouhair Talbi finds his legs, wins Portland Track Festival 10,000 meters | SOJC Track Bureau". sojctrack.uoregon.edu.
  6. ^ "Zouhair Talbi (Morocco) and Andrea Seccafien (Canadian Record) Win The Track Meet 10,000 as Sara Hall and 3 Others Get Olympic Standard". LetsRun.com. May 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "DyeStat.com - News - Zouhair Talbi Wins 10,000 Meters, Andrea Seccafien Sets Canadian Record at Sound Running Track Meet". www.runnerspace.com.
  8. ^ "Houston half results". Houston Half. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  9. ^ "Houston Half Marathon 2023 Results". watchathletics.com. January 15, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  10. ^ "2023 Boston Marathon Results". apnews.com. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  11. ^ Robertson, Dale (January 14, 2024). "Morocco's Zouhair Talbi sets course record to win Chevron Houston Marathon". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 15 January 2024.