MADRID, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Double Olympic champion Hicham El Guerrouj has won the 2004 Principe de Asturias prize, which is Spain's top international sporting honor, the prize foundation announced on Wednesday.

    Moroccan El Guerrouj won both the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at last month's Olympic Games in Athens.

    The 30-year-old 1,500 meter and mile world record holder fell at the bell in the final at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and was outsprinted by Kenyan Noah Ngeny four years later in Sydney.

    "He is an extraordinary sportsman," said former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who chaired the foundation's jury.

    "His success represents the triumph of an athlete who knew how to recover from misfortunes when he seemed to be unable to win medals in the biggest competitions."

    Previous winners of the Principe de Asturias award for sport include six-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, tennis great Martina Navratilova and athletes Carl Lewis and Sebastian Coe. Enditem