Fermin CACHO RUIZ

Fermin Cacho Ruiz of Spain was not one of the favourites in the 1,500m in Barcelona. However, the final was run at an unusually slow pace (the slowest in 36 years) and Cacho knew how to take advantage.

First Spanish running gold medal

With half a lap to go, he burst into the lead, opened a ten-metre gap and, with a delirious crowd screaming his name, held off a late sprint by Rachid El Bashir of Morocco.

Cacho was the first Spanish runner ever to win a gold medal. Four years later, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Cacho proved that his Barcelona victory was not a fluke by earning another medal, this time a silver. He is one of only three men to win two Olympic medals at 1,500m.