Zouhair Talbi

Zouhair Talbi
Zouhair Talbi at mile 25 of the 2025 Chicago Marathon
Personal information
Born (1995-04-08) 8 April 1995
Tighassaline, Khenifra, Morocco
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight145 lb (66 kg)
Sport
CountryMorocco
SportAthletics
Events
College teamOklahoma City Stars
Turned pro
2022
Achievements and titles
2024
Marathon, 35th
World finals
2022
10,000m, 20th
Personal bests

Zouhair Talbi (born 8 April 1995) is a Moroccan-born American long-distance runner.[1] He competed in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics and placed fifth in the 2023 Boston Marathon and 2026 Boston Marathon.

Early Life and Career

Originally from Tighassaline, Khenifra, Morocco, he was a keen soccer player before transitioning to distance running as a teenager. After excelling, at the age of 18 years-old he competed in the U20 race at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and placed 14th overall. In 2018, he competed in the Bislett Games Oslo Diamond League event in Oslo, running 28:31 to place 4th in the 10,000m.[2]

College career

Talbi decided to move to the United States and studied at the Northwest Kansas Technical College, and then moved to Oklahoma City University.[3] He was a 2015 World University Games silver medalist in 5000 meters.[4] He set a 28:02 personal best in Portland, Oregon in 2019.[5]

On May 14, 2021, he met the Olympic qualifying standard as he won the 10,000m at the Sound Running Track Meet in California and in doing so improved his personal best from 28:02 to 27:20:61.[6] It was the second-fastest performance ever by a collegiate athlete and ranked No. 7 in the world for the year so far. Displaying a fast finish Talbi was in third with two laps remaining before covering the final 400 meters in 59.41 seconds to beat Emmanuel Bor and Joe Klecker.[7] However, Talbi had to be pulled from the Olympics shortly before the commencement as he had not met the drug testing requirements for an athlete from Morocco.[2]

Talbi finished college as a 7-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national champion and 2-time National Junior College Athletic Association All-American.

Representing Oklahoma City University
Year Competition Venue Position Event Note
2022 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Indoor Track and Field Championships South Dakota State University 1st Mile 4:07.27
1st 3000m 8:17.67
1st 5000m 14:28.39
2021 NAIA men's cross country championship Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Washington 1st 8 km 24:43.1
Seminole Cross Country Course
Cedar Rapids, Iowa		 1st 8 km 23:45.2
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Indoor Track and Field Championships Mount Marty University, South Dakota 1st 5000m 13:44.13
1st Distance medley relay 9:56.08

[8]

Representing Fort Hays Tech Northwest
Year Competition Venue Position Event Note
2020 National Junior College Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships Liberty University, Virginia 2nd 5000m 14:12.59
2019 NJCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship Albuquerque, New Mexico 2nd 8 km 23:57.6

Professional career

In 2023, he set a new half marathon personal best of 1:01:08 to finish fifth at the 2023 Houston Half Marathon,[9][10] a time that he later matched in 2025, finishing first at the 2025 Chicago Half Marathon. Later in 2023 Talbi ran 2:08.35 to finish fifth at the Boston Marathon.[11]

On 14 January 2024, he set a new course record time of 2:06.39 to win the Houston Marathon.[12] In August 2024, he placed 35th overall competing for Morocco at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in 2:11:51.[13]

Talbi lowered the Houston Marathon course record to 2:05:45 on 11 January 2026, for his first win after becoming an American citizen. In doing so, he became the third American to run a sub-2:06 marathon on a record eligible course after Conner Mantz and Khalid Khannouchi.[14] He ran 59:41 to place second at the New York City Half Marathon in March 2026.[15] At the 2026 Boston Marathon he again placed fifth, and his time of 2:03:45 set a new course record for an American.[16]

Personal life

Born in Morocco, he obtained American citizenship in 2025 and enlisted as a United States Army Reserve. With his wife Elizabeth, who is also a runner, he has a son. Due to his previous representation of Morocco, his eligibility to represent the USA in international championships opens in August 2027.[14][17][18]

Notable marathon results

Results taken from IAAF profile[1]

Year Race Place Time
2023 Boston Marathon 5th 2:08:35
New York Marathon DNF
2024 Houston Marathon 1st 2:06:39
Boston Marathon 10th 2:10:45
Paris Olympics 35th 2:11:51
Yellow River Estuary Dongying Marathon 3rd 2:07:17
2025 Chicago Marathon 11th 2:07:27
2026 Houston Marathon 1st 2:05.45
2026 Boston Marathon 5th 2:03.45

References

  1. 1 2 "Zouhair TALBI | Profile". worldathletics.org.
  2. 1 2 Geula, Alex (August 9, 2023). "From NAIA to Beating Kipchoge: The Zouhair Talbi Story". Lets Run. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Zouhair Talbi - 2020-21 - Oklahoma City University". www.ocusports.com.
  4. ↑ "World University Games Medalist Morocco Zouhair Talbi Beats American Soldier Emmanuel Bor". May 15, 2021. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Zouhair Talbi finds his legs, wins Portland Track Festival 10,000 meters | SOJC Track Bureau". sojctrack.uoregon.edu.
  6. ↑ "Zouhair Talbi (Morocco) and Andrea Seccafien (Canadian Record) Win The Track Meet 10,000 as Sara Hall and 3 Others Get Olympic Standard". LetsRun.com. May 15, 2021.
  7. ↑ "DyeStat.com - News - Zouhair Talbi Wins 10,000 Meters, Andrea Seccafien Sets Canadian Record at Sound Running Track Meet". www.runnerspace.com.
  8. ↑ Zouhair Talbi College Cross Country & Track Results TFRRS
  9. ↑ "Houston half results". Houston Half. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Houston Half Marathon 2023 Results". watchathletics.com. January 15, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  11. ↑ "2023 Boston Marathon Results". apnews.com. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  12. ↑ Robertson, Dale (January 14, 2024). "Morocco's Zouhair Talbi sets course record to win Chevron Houston Marathon". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  13. ↑ "The XXXIII Olympic Games". World Athletics. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 11 Jan 2026.
  14. 1 2 Warren, Peter (Jan 11, 2026). "Zouhair Talbi sets Chevron Houston Marathon record to win for second time and first as U.S. citizen". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 11 Jan 2026.
  15. ↑ "ADRIAN WILDSCHUTT AND HELLEN OBIRI VICTORIOUS AT THE NYC HALF". Athletics Weekly. 15 March 2026. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  16. ↑ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/20/sports/boston-marathon-american-man-zouhair-talbi/
  17. ↑ Johnson, Weldon (January 11, 2026). "Americans Fly in Houston: Alex Maier (59:23) & Taylor Roe (66:20) Move to #2 All-Time US in Half; US Citizen Zouhair Talbi Smashes Course Record (2:05:45)". Lets Run. Retrieved 11 Jan 2026.
  18. ↑ C Tolle Run episode 434: Zouhair Talbi - I'm 100% Focused
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