Date of birth: 23/03/1982
Place of birth: Belfaa (Marocco)
Height x weight: 1,69 x 53
First Club: TRC Traversetolo Running Club
Club: Circolo Minerva Parma
First Coach: Luca Bragazzi
Coach: Giorgio Rondelli
Other sports: Football
Relationship Status: Married
Olympic Games Participation:
Esordiente
Biography
Born in south-central Morocco, El Fathaoui did not play sports as a boy. He arrived in Italy in July 1999 with his mother and three sisters to join his father. He found a job as a metalworker in a company that produces natural gas compressors and, for fun, he played football in amateur leagues. In 2007, he started running, involved by a colleague, joining a Cus Parma running group and began to win provincial races. He quit in 2011 for a couple of years due to a knee injury. In 2019, he ran the Rome marathon in 2:17:04, then the exploit in Berlin, where he improved by almost six minutes (2:11:08). After obtaining a leave of absence from work, he achieved more progress in 2020 in Seville, with 2:10:10, before being coached by Giorgio Rondelli. Married with a daughter born in 2013, he has been an Italian citizen since that same year.