Day 10: Moroccan runner Benhassi wins bronze in the women's 800m

18/08/2008

Day 10 of Olympic competition saw Morocco earn its first medal, a bronze in the women's 800m running race. Hasna Benhassi ran her season best, but was edged out by two runners from Kenya.

Mawassi Lahcen in Casablanca and Nazim Fethi in Algiers contributed to this report – 18/08/08

[Getty Images] Morocco's Hasna Benhassi (right) stands with her bronze medal from the 800m event, alongside Kenyan gold medallist Pamela Jelimo (centre) and silver medallist Janeth Jepkosgei (left).

Moroccan running champion Hasna Benhassi won her country's first medal at the Beijing Olympic Games on Monday (August 18th), taking third place in the women's 800m race.

Kenyans Pamela Jelimo and Janeth Jepkosgei set a speedy tempo from the outset, but despite her ultimate speed, Benhassi was unable to catch up with the two east Africans. Jelimo, 18, won the gold medal, with a time of 1:54.87. Jepkosgei finished second in 1:56.07 and Benhassi came in third with a time of 1:56.73, her best record this season.

In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Benhassi won the silver medal in the same event, with a time of 1:56.43.

In the men's 3000m steeplechase, Morocco's Abdelkader Hachlef was luckless, coming in last place. French athlete of Moroccan origin Mahiedine Mekhissi snatched the silver medal, right behind Kenya's Brimin Kiprop Kipruto.

In the triple jump, Morocco's Tarik Bouguetaib was disqualified after ranking last in Group 2 of the semi-finals.

Looking ahead, Ali Saidi-Sief (5000m) and Nahida Touhami (1500m) are the last Algerians in the running for medals.

In boxing, Algerian featherweight Abdelkader Chadi's string of successes came to a halt on Monday when he lost 13-6 on points to Turkey's Yakup Kilic in the +57kg category. Chadi's compatriot Newfel Ouatah also failed to qualify for the semis after losing 10-4 to Ukraine's Vyacheslav Glazkov in the super heavyweight +91kg category.

Algeria's last hopes for a boxing medal rest upon Abdelhafid Benchebla, who faces China's Zhang Xiaoping in the light heavyweight category on Tuesday evening.

Tunisian athletes did not compete on Monday.