GOLDEN TOUCH!

IT'S business as usual for Bahrain's Olympic star athlete Rashid Ramzi who is preparing to add more gold to his collection.

The champion made history by winning the kingdom's first-ever Olympic medal when he timed to perfection a late burst to win the men's 1,500 metres at the Beijing Games.

And no sooner had he savoured the taste of success on the track than he was busy preparing to take a share of a jackpot of gold ingots in the next stage of the highly-prized IAAF Golden League.

Lounes Madene, Bahrain's athletics technical manager, told Gulf Weekly: "Rashid left Beijing on Sunday as he is preparing to take part in the League's meeting in Zurich."

In 1998, the IAAF created the Golden League, which was developed as a concept to unify the elite individual meetings held in Europe. It comprises six meetings for men, rich in athletics tradition, held at the height of the season.

For competing athletes, the concept is simple: win your IAAF Golden League discipline for a share of the IAAF Golden League Jackpot of 100 kilos of gold ingots, worth $1 million.

But no amount of ingots compares to an Olympic Gold Medal as Ramzi's face showed just moments after his memorable victory.

The 28-year-old won the race in three minutes and 32.94 seconds, out-sprinting the field for the kingdom's first medal in six Olympic Games dating back to Los Angeles in 1984.

"I didn't believe in my wildest dreams that I'd be Olympic champion," said Ramzi. "But the dream didn't come from nothing. I had to work hard to achieve it. I'm over the moon, I can't find the words to describe this victory."

Kenya's Asbel Kipruto Kiprop, who finished fourth in last year's world championships in Osaka, claimed silver in 3:33.11 with New Zealander Nicholas Willis winning bronze in 3:34.16.

"I saw Ramzi coming in front of me and I had a plan of kicking past him in the last 200m, but I couldn't," said Kiprop. "He's a great man. Losing to Ramzi is not a big deal!"

Bahrain's other runner Belal Mansoor Ali blasted away to the front of the 12-man field from the start of the race in front of the packed 91,000-capacity National Stadium in sultry conditions.He was soon joined by Kiprop, who took the pack through the first 400m in 56.48 seconds.

Augustine Choge then moved into the lead and as the bell for the last lap sounded, the Kenyan Commonwealth 5,000m champion opened up his stride in a bid to up the pace.

The field followed suit and with 300 metres to go, Ramzi kicked. For a moment it looked as if he had moved too early as Ali shadowed him around the far bend.

But with teeth clenched, the Bahraini maintained his startling burst of pace to out-sprint the chasing pack, including an ever-closing 60-metre gasping effort from Kiprop.

His victory made up for his semi-final exit at the Athens Games four years ago and replicated the form that saw him become the first athlete since New Zealand's Peter Snell in the 1964 Olympics to do the 800/1500m double in a global championships when he achieved that in the 2005 world championships.

"What a spectacular performance," said Bahrain Athletics Association president Shaikh Talal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. "We are absolutely thrilled with the result. His experience as a world champion was a key factor in his victory, seeing how he ran a very tactical race and how he was flawless in the end.

"He has made history for Bahrain once again, and we are very proud of what he has accomplished."

General Organisation for Youth and Sports (Goys) president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, who was also in Beijing, termed the achievement wonderful, adding: "He proved to the world that he is a true champion."

Rashid has really struck gold with his victory in more ways than one and can expect a windfall of prizes once he returns to the kingdom.

Ramzi is expected to receive more than BD30,000 in prize money from Goys alone, according to Shaikh Fawaz. "He will also be receiving valuable gifts from His Majesty the King and the Crown Prince, who are some of the strongest supporters of Bahrain's athletics team," the Goys chief told our sister newspaper, The GDN.

Rashid was born the son of a bricklayer in the Moroccan town of Safi, which has produced such other great athletes as the Boulami brothers - Khalid and Brahim. Khalid is now his coach.

Ramzi joined the Olympique de Safi in 1997 and was rapidly spotted as a promising athlete in the 800m - 1500m range. In 1999 he collected his first international laurel with a silver medal in the 1500m at the African Junior Championships, in Tunis (3:47.13).

In 2002, Ramzi and three other Moroccan runners decided to leave Morocco for Bahrain, where they were offered jobs in the army and good training conditions.

Most of their training is done abroad, chiefly in Morocco, because it is too hot to train in Bahrain.