Khalid Khannouchi

Khalid Khannouchi
Personal information
Born (1971-09-12) September 12, 1971 (age 53)
Meknes, Morocco
Sport
CountryMoroccoUnited States
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)5,000 m: 13:41.6
10km (Road): 27:45
Half Marathon: 1:00:27
Marathon: 2:05:38
Chicago Marathon (1st, 4x)
London Marathon (1st, 1x)

Khalid Khannouchi (Arabic: خالد خنّوشي) (born September 12, 1971) is a Moroccan-born American retired long-distance runner. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five men to break the marathon world record more than once, and one of only five to break their own marathon world record (the others are Jim Peters, Derek Clayton, Eliud Kipchoge, and Haile Gebrselassie).

Khalid fell out with the Moroccan athletics federation over training expenses and moved to Brooklyn, New York City in 1992 with three of his friends. He married American Sandra Inoa in 1996, who coached him and acted as his agent. They set up home in Ossining, New York. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States on May 2, 2000. He first gained broad notoriety by winning the 1997 Chicago Marathon by over a minute with a time of 2:07.10, breaking the 12-year old course record held by Steve Jones.

As of 2022, Khalid holds the American record for the marathon,[1] with a time of 2:05:38 at the London Marathon in 2002.

Khannouchi officially retired on March 27, 2012 due to recurring foot injuries since 2003. Khannouchi stated "It was really my feet that betrayed me. Every time I go and try to push hard, I get the pain and soreness again. I can't train hard and if you can't train at a certain level where you can be competitive it's not worth it to keep wasting time."[2]

  1. ^ "USA Track & Field - MarathonMen". Usatf.org. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  2. ^ Marathon Great Khalid Khannouchi Officially Retires