Ayad Lamdassem El Mouhcine was born on 11 October 1981 and is a Moroccan-born long distance runner who competes for Spain internationally.
19 Facts About Ayad Lamdassem
2.
Ayad Lamdassem has represented Spain twice in the 10,000 metres at the Summer Olympics as well as the European Athletics Championships.
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Ayad Lamdassem was the silver medallist at the European Cross Country Championships in 2010 and 2011.
4.
Ayad Lamdassem was a gold medallist at the 2010 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics.
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Ayad Lamdassem first arrived in Spain in 2002 as part of the Moroccan contingent for the World University Cross Country Championships, which was being held in Santiago de Compostela that year.
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Ayad Lamdassem later moved to Lleida, working with coach Antonio Canovas, and received citizenship in 2007 after five years of residency.
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Ayad Lamdassem came fourth at the 2008 European Cross Country Championships at the end of the year, helping the Spanish men to the team title.
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Ayad Lamdassem represented Spain twice at cross country in 2009, coming 30th at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and fifth at the 2009 European Cross Country Championships, where Spain retained the team title.
9.
Ayad Lamdassem competed in the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, running in the 10,000 metres, but dropped out mid-race.
10.
Ayad Lamdassem won his first track medal at the 2010 Ibero-American Championships, taking the gold medal in the 5000 metres.
11.
Ayad Lamdassem led the Spanish men to the bronze in the team competition.
12.
Ayad Lamdassem competed at the San Silvestre Vallecana on New Year's Eve and was leading ahead of favourite Zersenay Tadese in the latter stages, but he took a wrong turn on the course, losing his leading margin and eventually finished as runner-up.
13.
Ayad Lamdassem carried the hopes of the host nation at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria and was the first European to finish, taking 16th place.
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Ayad Lamdassem won the 2011 Cursa Bombers, although it was a Catalan-only race and his winning time was relatively slow.
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Ayad Lamdassem was the top European at the Cross de Venta de Banos later that month, coming second to Kenya's Philemon Kimeli.
16.
Ayad Lamdassem returned to the Edinburgh Cross Country in 2012 and won the long race, beating European champion Yeshetela.
17.
Ayad Lamdassem won the European Club's Cross Country meet in Castellon, leading Bikila Toledo to the title.
18.
Ayad Lamdassem debuted over the marathon distance at the Lake Biwa Marathon but finished 23rd with a relatively slow time of 2:14:39 hours.
19.
Ayad Lamdassem was selected to run the event for Spain at the 2012 London Olympics, but did not perform as well, coming in 23rd place in 28:49.85 minutes.