Khalid Khannouchi

Who is Khalid Khannouchi?

Khalid Khannouchi is a Moroccan American marathoner. He was born in Meknes, Morocco. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five men to break the marathon world record more than once, and one of only four to break their own marathon world record.

Khalid fell out with the Moroccan athletics federation over training expenses and moved to Brooklyn, New York City in 1992 with three of his friends. He married American Sandra Inoa in 1996 who now coaches him and acts as his agent. They set up home in Ossining, New York. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States on May 2, 2000.

As of 2013, Khalid still holds the record for the fastest marathon run by an American, with a time of 2:05.38 at the London Marathon in 2002. Ryan Hall ran faster in 2011, 2:04:58, but that was in the point-to-point Boston Marathon, considered an assisted course because of the elevation drop.