Mohamed Katir, the ambition of the record collector

Mohamed Katir has been revolutionizing Spanish athletics for the past two yearswhere he collected records and medals, and became the standard European midfielder along with the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

Katir (Alcazarquivir, Morocco, 1998) is one of Spain’s athletic stars. His irreverence and bold running, along with the confidence and ambition he sends into every competitioncaused every time he jumped on the track or put on a bib all eyes were directed at him.

Less than two years ago, Katir was only mentioned in Spain, but between June 10 and July 13, 2021, in those 33 days, his name became the talk of the town by breaking three consecutive national recordsthose of 5,000 (12:50.79), 1,500 (3:28.76) and 3,000 (7:27.64), surpassing these records of national athletic legends such as Fermín Cacho and Isaac Viciosa.

That was in 2021, and as the end of a dream year, in which he also achieved an Olympic diploma in Tokyo with his eighth place in the 5,000 finals.Katir was planted in Madrid on December 31 to win the San Silvestre Vallecana, by ten kilometers, with a time of 27:44, something that a Spanish athlete had not done since 2003 with Chema Martínez.

In 2022, the year is difficult but also exciting with the World Cup and European Championship outside. The balance is two medals, a bronze in Eugene (United States) in the 1,500 and a silver in Munich (Germany) in the 5,000.

The year saw him fired again in Madrid, at San Silvestre Vallecana, where he finished second behind Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei but stopped the clock in 27:18, the Spaniard’s all-time best mark over ten kilometers on the road.

This 2023 couldn’t have started better for Katir. In the first race, the 1,500 of the Indoor Meeting of L’Eure, held in the French city of Val-de-Reuil, he won., and in the second, Lievin Meeting, also in France, beat the European record of 3,000 held by his countryman Adel Mechaal with 7:24.68. In addition, he is an outstanding contender of the fastest indoor race in history since the Ethiopian Lamecha Girma won with a world record (7:23.81).

The Murcian runner gave up participating in the indoor European Championship in Istanbul (Turkey) to focus on outdoor training. This year the main goal is the World Cup in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, where he hopes to return to the podium.

His roadmap is clear and his belief is strong to continue achieving success. In Mula, the Murcian town where he lives, with more than 17,000 registered inhabitants, he is an idol.

“I take my people to the top. People recognize me but they understand that I have to train and I can’t stop all the time to say hello or take a picture. I’ve been from Mula all my life and I’m one more, ” he said in an interview with EFE in August 2022.

His Moroccan origin has sometimes gotten him into situations of rejection, something that, due to his personality, he does not attach importance to.

“My head is focused and I don’t focus on bad vibrations or those who say bad things to me. I focus on those who motivate me. Like they said my father came by boat. Lie. My dad came to work from legal. I feel Spanish, I’ve been here all my life, even though I was born in Morocco. I don’t care if people say I wasn’t born here or I don’t have to take the flag. I will run, not someone else. If I represent a country it is because I am proud”, he pointed out.

Katir, at the age of 25, has already entered the history book of Spanish athletics with golden letters and, worldwide, he is a respected athlete who is highly respected by his rivals for the way he competes, the projection that he has and the successes he has achieved. his running talent.

The rivalry he maintains with Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the great banner of the European midfielder, could be epic and mark an era. The 22-year-old Norwegian is a double 1,500 and 5,000 outdoor continental champion and a 5,000 world champion. At the World Cup in Budapest, both are looking to write a new chapter in the history book of athletics.