Nezha Bidouane

Nezha Bidouane









Photo/Foto: George Herringshaw
Date: 5th August 1997








CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
1997 World 400m hurdles Champion




Nezha Bidouane had been virtually unknown before she was the surprise winner of the 400m hurdles at the 1997 World Championships in Athens. However, it may have been a surprise to many to learn that this was in fact her fourth World Championships appearance. Bidouane's three previous appearances had been relatively mediocre. She had finished last in her semi-final in 1991 at Tokyo, had failed to finish her heat at Stuttgart in 1993, and had been disqualified in her heat two years later in Gothenburg. Indeed, Bidouane's entire international championship record and performances prior to 1997 had given no hint of her breakthrough in that year. Nezha had been eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1992 Olympic Games, and had to miss the 1996 Olympic Games due to Achilles tendon surgery. Nezha's best time prior to 1997 had been 55.08sec, but she slashed this time to 54.05sec at Rome on 5 June 1997, setting a new African record, and defeating Deon Hemmings (Jamaica) and Kim Batten (USA), who had respectively won the gold and silver medals at the previous year's Olympic Games. At the World Championships in Athens, Bidouane easily won her heat on 5 August (see photo above) in 55.53sec, and then, on the following day, further lowered her African record to 53.48sec when she won her semi-final. Despite this vast improvement by Bidouane, few considered the final to be anything more than a match race between Batten and Hemmings. The first half of the final seemed to follow this script, with Batten and Hemmings setting a very fast pace. Bidouane was a distant fourth entering the straight, but finishing like a rocket, passing Batten at the last hurdle, and catching a surprised Hemmings in the last few strides to win in yet another new African record of 52.97sec. (Ron Casey)