Comité Olympique Marocain sent a total of 55 athletes, 47 men and 8 women, to compete in 9 sports. Men's football was the only team-based sport in which Morocco had its representation at these Olympic Games. There was only a single competitor in fencing, swimming, and weightlifting. The Moroccan team featured four Olympic medalists from Sydney: boxer Tahar Tamsamani, steeplechaser Ali Ezzine, middle-distance runner and top favorite Hicham El Guerrouj, and hurdler and former world champion Nezha Bidouane, who later became the nation's first ever female flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1]
Morocco left Athens with a total of three Olympic medals (two gold and one silver), being considered the most successful Olympics based on the gold medal count. As one of the major highlights of these Games, Hicham El Guerrouj set an Olympic historical milestone as the first ever Moroccan athlete to strike a distance double (1500–5000) since Paavo Nurmi did so in 1924, and the first to claim a gold since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where Khalid Skah won the men's 10,000 metres title.[2][3] On August 29, 2004, at the time of the closing ceremony, El Guerrouj was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission, along with three other athletes.[4] Meanwhile, the silver medal was awarded to fellow middle-distance runner Hasna Benhassi in the women's 800 metres.[5]
Moroccan athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).[6][7]
Key
Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
Morocco sent seven boxers to Athens. Only two of them won their first bouts, including Sydney bronze medalist Tahar Tamsamani, and both were defeated in the second round to give the team a combined record of 2–7.
