Hasna Benhassi

Hasna Benhassi (left) with Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei and Mayte Martínez at the 2007 World Cup winners' ceremony

Hasna Benhassi ( Arabic حسنة بنحسي; ) (Born June 1, 1978 in Marrakech ) is a Moroccan middle-distance runner .

Life

Hasna Benhassi was eliminated in the semifinals over 800 meters at the 1997 World Championships in Athens . In 1998 she finished second behind Maria de Lurdes Mutola in 2: 01.54 minutes at the African Championship in Dakar. In 1999 she was fifth at the World Indoor Championships .

In 2000 she won the African Championship in 1: 59.01 minutes. At the Olympic Games in Sydney she was eighth in 1: 59.27 minutes. In March 2001 she won gold in the 1500 meter run at the indoor world champion in Lisbon , in 4: 10.83 minutes she defeated the Romanian Violeta Szekely . In the 2001 outdoor season, she did not take part in major competitions, her daughter was born in December.

In August 2002 she returned to the track at the African Championship and was third in the 1500 meters. At the World Indoor Championships in 2003 , she was eighth over 1500 meters.

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, she competed on both routes. Over 800 meters there was a sprint on the home straight in which four runners crossed the finish line almost side by side. The Englishwoman Kelly Holmes won in 1: 56.38 minutes ahead of the simultaneous Benhassi and Jolanda Čeplak in 1: 56.43 minutes, another eight hundredths of a second behind was Maria de Lurdes Mutola. The evaluation of the target photo showed that Benhassi received silver and Čeplak bronze. Five days later, in the 1500 meter final, Holmes won while Benhassi was twelfth and last.

In 2005 at the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 , Benhassi only competed over 800 meters. As so often, she was at the end of the field at the beginning of the final lap and then slowly worked her way forward on the back straight. Until the finish line, she was able to cover almost the entire field with her final sprint and finished second behind the Cuban Zulia Calatayud in 1: 59.42 minutes . In Moscow at the 2006 World Indoor Championships , Benhassi won bronze in 2: 00.34 minutes behind Maria de Lurdes Mutola and Kenya Sinclair from Jamaica.

At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, the fast-paced Moroccan showed good nerves again when she did not keep up with the pace of Kenyan Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei . In the second round she crossed the field that the Kenyan could no longer follow and won silver in 1: 56.99 minutes ahead of the Spanish Mayte Martínez . A year later at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, Benhassi won the bronze medal in 1: 56.73 minutes behind the two Kenyan speed runners Pamela Jelimo and Busienei.

Benhassi is 1.66 m tall and weighs 47 kg. She is married to her fellow runner Mouhssin Chehibi , who finished fourth in the Olympic Games over 800 meters in Athens.

Best times

• 800 m: 1: 56.43 min, 23 August 2004, Athens
  • Hall: 1: 59.33 min, February 14, 1999, Birmingham
• 1000 m : 2: 33.15 min, July 17, 1999, Nice
• 1500 m: 4: 02.54 min, July 11, 2003, Rome
  • Hall: 4: 04.48 min, February 11, 2001, Dortmund

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 2007. SportsBooks, Cheltenham 2007, ISBN 978-1-899807-49-9 .

Web links

• Hasna Benhassi in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Hasna Benhassi in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Portrait at IAAF - Focus on Athletes ( Memento from June 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), August 22, 2004 (updated on February 23, 2006)
• Hasna Benhassi on sporting-heroes.net