Noureddine Morceli (Arabic: نور الدين مرسلي, Nūr ud-Dīn Mursilī; born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner.

The winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Morceli won three straight gold medals at that distance at the World Championships in Athletics.

In the early 1980s, Morceli came to idolize Saïd Aouita, a Moroccan who won the gold medal in the 5,000 metres in the 1984 Olympic Games.

A year later, he enrolled at Riverside Community College in California, which had been recommended for its coaching and track facilities.

As he set his sights on more records, most notably the 800-metre, 2,000-metre, and 5,000-metre events, his driving force was a deeply rooted dedication to bring glory to his country.

Morceli bested El Guerrouj in the 1,500 metres at the 1995 outdoor world championships; however, the 1,500-metre race at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta the following year was considered one of the most dramatic contests in athletics history.

At the Grand Prix final in Milan later that year, however, Morceli lost the 1,500-metre event for the first time in years—to El Guerrouj.

Born in Ténès, Morceli rose to athletic prominence after winning the silver medal in the 1500 m at the World Junior Championships in 1988.

Morceli was coached by his brother Abderrahmane[3] who ran for Algeria in the Moscow Olympics of 1980 and in Los Angeles in 1984.

Throughout the outdoor season 1991 Morceli remained undefeated over 1500 m. At several Grand Prix meetings he ran times around 3:31 min.

He set a new World Championships record (3:32.84) and finished with a remarkable two-second-lead between him and the silver medallist Wilfred Kirochi (Kenya).

[citation needed] But prior to the Olympic Games Morceli lost unexpectedly to Gennaro di Napoli in Rome and David Kibet in Oslo.

That was not the sort of pace to which Morceli had become accustomed, or that he was comfortable with, and when the frantic sprint for home began, he found himself unable to respond, eventually finishing a disappointing seventh.

He also experimented successfully with the 5000 m. In Zurich he outsprinted the rest of the field to take the victory (51.93 seconds last lap) and also won the 5000 m race in Rieti.