By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press

BEIJING (AP)—Rashid Ramzi won gold in Tuesday’s 1,500 meters in Beijing to give Bahrain its first ever Olympic medal.

http://l.yimg.com/a/i/ww/news/2008/08/19/bahrain_lg.jpg

The Morocco native crossed the line in 3 minutes, 32.94 seconds, while Kipruto Kiprop of Kenya took silver in 3:33.11 and Michigan-based Nicholas Willis of New Zealand got the bronze in 3:34.16.

“Bahrain is a small country, so winning gold is a very big thing,” Ramzi said.

Ramzi, the 2005 world champion over 800 and 1,500, said he had been training since 2002 and that missing out on qualifying for the 1,500 final at the 2004 Athens Olympics had been a powerful motivator.

“I had many problems along the way, but they were positive experiences and I learned from the problems,” said Ramzi, who holds the rank of sergeant in Bahrain’s palace guard but spends much of the year training at high altitude in the land of his birth.

Ramzi said he was still debating whether to run in the 5,000-meter race, for which heats begin Wednesday. Problems adjusting to the seven-hour time difference were making it hard to get sufficient rest at night, he said.

Willis said his third-place showing furthered the legacy of New Zealand 1,500-meter Olympic champions Jack Lovelock (1936), Peter Snell (1964), and John Walker (1976).

“This is huge for New Zealand and for athletics in general,” said Willis, who trains under famed University of Michigan coach Ron Walhurst. “We have such a rich tradition … to get a bronze, to me, means just as much.”

Willis said he hoped his humble beginnings in a small New Zealand town where track and field wasn’t popular would inspire young athletes from similar backgrounds, particularly in the face of stiff competition from an increasingly globalized field.

“The standard of competition and the spread that this sport has reached worldwide … sometimes we struggle to compete against the Africans. I feel like I’m representing a huge range of track and field fans so its just a real honor to be able to carry the mantle and reach the medal podium,” Willis said.

Willis said he looked forward to traveling with the medal as a form of outreach.

“I really enjoy public speaking and this is going to provide that opportunity, and I really believe that this is part of my calling to do that so I welcome that,” he said.

Willis said Walker and others had foreseen his achievement even when he hadn’t.

“My massage therapist said ‘there’s something about it Nic, where you don’t necessarily see it, but it oozes out of you that you believe that you can do this stuff,’” Willis said.

“I don’t neccessarily realize that, but the fact that everyone else sees that just reminds me,” he said.

Mehdi Baala of France, a two-time European champion and world championship silver medalist in 2003, was fourth in the race.

Bernard Lagat, who edged Ramzi at the 2007 world championships, was eliminated in the semifinals.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/track_field/news?slug=ap-ath-mens1500&prov=ap&type=lgns

MABRUK BAHRAINIS

Guys, wallah I'm so proud. Qatar is proud of you and it's all in our news papers.

You make us proud to be your neighbours and your brothers. Way to go!

^^ The feeling is always mutual bro.. :)

I was really happy when i saw that.The guy and the team behind him have been working their behinds off and to see them beat the usual suspects is great..

Now lets hope Al GHassra does the Arabs proud too...

http://img10.beijing2008.cn/20080819/Img214564842.jpg

http://img06.beijing2008.cn/20080819/Img214564843.jpg

http://img08.beijing2008.cn/20080819/Img214564844.jpg

http://img06.beijing2008.cn/20080819/Img214564845.jpg

:applause: :applause: :applause:

:banana::banana::banana:

MABROUK !!!!!!

I saw this last night... well done! Ramzi was soooo fast at the final lap.

great another moroccan who thinks he is an arab
whats wrong with these people?

I guess he should think he is Berber.. or sorry... 'Amazigh'... And our Jews should go to Israel or wherever.. Cuz the world is so Black and White... :)

Well done Ramzi.. Great achievement..

I guess he should think he is Berber.. or sorry... 'Amazigh' ...

Why the quotes???

great another moroccan who thinks he is an arab
whats wrong with these people?

It probably doesn't have anything to do with who he thinks he is. He's just going to be paid better in Bahrain. The athletes in Morocco are dirt poor...

Good for him honestly. This is the first medal ever for Bahrain. :applause:

http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/track-bahrains-first-olympic-medal-and-its-gold/

great another moroccan who thinks he is an arab
whats wrong with these people?

so everyone in morocco is amazigh.

I see...


btw congratulations.

I'm from Bangladesh. Excuse my ignorance..... may i know what amazigh means?

^^berber



oh my god I said berber!!!

It probably doesn't have anything to do with who he thinks he is. He's just going to be paid better in Bahrain. The athletes in Morocco are dirt poor...

Good for him honestly. This is the first medal ever for Bahrain. :applause:

http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/track-bahrains-first-olympic-medal-and-its-gold/

Well he's been in Bahrain for over 7 years i believe... He wasn't made Bahraini just a day before the olympics...

That's more than the requirement in many countries around the world like Canada, aUstralia i beleive..

^^ He used to compete for Morocco then was given the Bahraini citizenship and started competing for Bahrain some years ago. His biography also says he lives and trains in Morocco too. Quite frankly I don't think it's a big deal. Bahrain offered him a better opportunity and he took it. It's kinda flattering to Moroccans too.


I'm from Bangladesh. Excuse my ignorance..... may i know what amazigh means?

It's the native North Africans...It's also a linguistic group.

I see........ Amazigh = Imazighen?

I saw this Live as well.


GO BAHRAIN BAHRAINI NUMBER ONE

We're so proud.

I see........ Amazigh = Imazighen?

yes :)

I'm sorry didnt mean for it to be scathing attack on arabs ,i suppose theres nothing wrong in being an arab if your an arab
i was just having fun at the expense of arabs
b-patriot and conquest theres a difference between someone who is arabtized and someone who is actually arab but thats a different issue which i dont have time to explain.
what i want disscuss is what is happening in the sporting world
take for example when britain a country which naturalised a Zola Budd in hope of winning a gold medal within something like two weeks

and the kenyan Stephen Cherono who changed his name to Shaheen Saif Saaeed after accepted the offer of $1,000-a-month for life and switched countries ,Shaheen was also sprinting for the $60,000 bonus to run for qatar

And now ramzi ,where will it end .Its becoming like not about competing for the sport itself and ones country but for the size of his bank balance.
services are available to the highest bidder

so non sporting nation can quicky be in competitions simply by buying from abroad like some kind of international sport supermarket

we dont have any home grown talent for gymnastic team perhaps in the future we can buy them?

What you're saying is true and a bit sad... But not all these cases are exactly the same.. You never know how large a role money or a richer bank account played.. lol..
^^ He used to compete for Morocco then was given the Bahraini citizenship and started competing for Bahrain some years ago. His biography also says he lives and trains in Morocco too. Quite frankly I don't think it's a big deal. Bahrain offered him a better opportunity and he took it. It's kinda flattering to Moroccans too.
Sure he used to compete in Morocco... He was born there.. He lived there for most of his life.. and his talent and skill didn't just pop out of no where..

And the time he spends in Morocco is because he likes to train at high altitudes.. And its natural he would go to Morocco, as opposed to say, Lebanon, or Iran or something... We don't exactly have 'high altitudes' in Bahrain..

[Deleted]]]

And now ramzi ,where will it end .Its becoming like not about competing for the sport itself and ones country but for the size of his bank balance.
services are available to the highest bidder

Whether that's true or not, it doesn't matter.

Do you know how many young Bahrainis and Arab youth are going to be inspired by Ramzi's Gold Medal?

This is THE first step in fostering homegrown talent. Inspiration and showing them nothing is impossible.

The Gulf nations are compartively young nations and you can't expect them to become sporting nations as fast as their economic development. But with Ramzi Youssef (and possibly other Bahraini medals tonight), it's now going to happen sooner.

Congrats to all Bahrainians! Though I'm sorry for what I'm about to say, as being a lover of Sport, particularly the Olympics, I just can't help myself! I feel strongly about this!

Here I was thinking, before reading this thread, that Ramzi was a NATIVE of Bahrain and I was going to congratulate Bahrainians on this amazing feet. I was also going to compare Bahrain to Qatar, who I thought was the only one of the two, buying players from abroad and owing all their medals to foreign talent!

I find this to be against the spirit of Olympics. Though I can understand why the Athletes would do this, for better pay, I would have done the same thing. But Athletes are not whom I have a problem with. I have a problem with the Authorities of the countries buying them. This is really dissapointing. The Media was against Bolt, saying that his celebration in the 100m was "insulting to the games, insulting to the sport" and whatnot! When there was nothing wrong with it! Whilst at the same time, no one even raises a voice against this! This IS the thing which is insulting to the game, insulting to the sport!

Sorry.

And the time he spends in Morocco is because he likes to train at high altitudes.. And its natural he would go to Morocco, as opposed to say, Lebanon, or Iran or something... We don't exactly have 'high altitudes' in Bahrain..

I am not an expert but I think middle-distance runners train in high attitudes. Apparently it's an effective method (I have known aspiring athletes back in Morocco who moved to the mountainous city of Ifrane and El Guerrouj used to train there too)...so yeah...if you don't have mountains, boohoo for you :D (jk)

we dont have any home grown talent for gymnastic team perhaps in the future we can buy them?

You know, even the US that has produced more than its fair share of sports legends uses international talent. Although I do agree that they usually import coaches and staff and not to-go athletes. In gymnastics itself, Romanian Nadia Comaneci's outstanding performance gave her the first ever perfect 10 score. A few years after that, her coach was brought to the US and he trained Mary Lou Retton that scored perfect 10s herself as well.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/source/xxxi/164/images/spor1.jpg

Ramzi returns to hero's welcome

By PATRICK SALOMON

BAHRAIN'S Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi returned to the kingdom yesterday for the first time since he participated in the Beijing Games.

Ramzi, who traveled on a flight that departed from Athens, Greece, was given a hero's welcome at the Bahrain International Airport. His Gulf Air flight was delayed three-and-a-half hours, therefore pushing back a scheduled victory party set to take place at Muharraq Club in Arad.

Ramzi was swarmed by a large number of flag-waving fans, both children and adults, who were carryibng flowers sporting T-shirts with a picture of him holding up his Olympic medal and the line "Rashid Ramzi: Olympic Champion" printed on the front in bright red Arabic.

Also on hand were a traditional band, a group of local and regional media, and top Bahraini sports officials, including General Organisation for Youth and Sports president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA) president Shaikh Talal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, former BAA president Shaikh Ibrahim bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, and BAA vice-president Mohammed Jalal. Bahraini Golden Girl Ruqaya Al Ghasra was also on hand.

Ramzi's coach Khalid Boulami had already reached Bahrain a couple of days ahead of his 28-year-old athlete. "It's great to have Ramzi back in the country after his spectacular performance in Beijing," Shaikh Fawaz told the GDN. Ramzi was unavailable to comment due to the large number of people crowding him.

"It's very encouraging to see the warm welcome he has been given. He is a champion and he deserves this sort of welcome."

Ramzi's gold medal in Beijing was Bahrain's first-ever accolade at any Olympic Games. He has now become the kingdom's first-ever Olympic champion, to go along with his tag as Bahrain's first-ever world champion. He powered to a famous victory in Beijing by winning all three of his races, starting with the opening round where he almost set a new Olympic record, followed by his semi-final race and then the pulsating final.

Ramzi expressed disbelief with his achievement as he crossed the finish line at Beijing's National Stadium. He clutched his head, before stretching out his arms in victory and then getting down on his knees while still on the track, taking a holy bow and thanking God for his historic performance.

Ramzi has received plenty of praise for his feat from both all of Bahrain and internationally. He will also be meeting with His Majesty King Hamad within the next few days.

"Ramzi is a great athlete, and His Majesty is a big fan of the sport," Shaikh Talal said. "He will meet with His Majesty before flying back out; he still has two or three races remaining in the season and we wish him the best."

On Friday, Ramzi finished second in the men's 1,500m race at the Weltklasse Zurich Golden League meeting held in Switzerland, despite a late but strong sprint down the home straight, similar to those that won him his Beijing races.