View source for Fermín Cacho

{{short description|Spanish middle-distance runner}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| image= Wiki fermin cacho.jpg
| image_size=
| caption= Cacho in November 2011
| birth_name = Fermín Cacho Ruiz
| birth_date= {{birth date and age|1969|2|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place= [[Ágreda]], [[Spain]]
| medaltemplates= {{Medal|Sport | Men's [[Athletics (sport)|Athletics]]}}
{{Medal|Country | {{ESP}} }}
{{Medal|Competition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{Medal|Gold| [[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]]| [[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics - Men's 1500 metres|1500 m]] }}
{{Medal|Silver| [[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Atlanta]]| [[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 1.500 metres|1500 m]] }}
{{Medal|Competition|[[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1993 World Championships in Athletics|1993 Stuttgart]]|[[1993 World Championships in Athletics - Men's 1500 metres|1500 m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1997 World Championships in Athletics|1997 Athens]]|[[1997 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|1500 m]]}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics|World Indoor Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships|1991 Seville]]|1500 m}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1994 European Athletics Championships|1994 Helsinki]]|1500 m}}
{{Medal|Bronze|[[1998 European Athletics Championships|1998 Budapest]]|1500 m}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships|1990 Glasgow]]|1500 m}}
}}

{{family name hatnote|Cacho|Ruiz|lang=Spanish}}

'''Fermín Cacho Ruiz''' (born 16 February 1969) is a Spanish [[track and field]] athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 1500m at the [[1992 Summer Olympics]] in Barcelona and the silver medal in the 1500m at the [[1996 Summer Olympics]] in Atlanta.

Born in [[Ágreda]], Spain, Cacho had an enviable competitive record in the 1500 m, but it was not until late in his career that he produced a time of corresponding quality.

Cacho's first notable result came in 1990, when he finished second in the 1500 m at the [[1990 European Indoor Championships in Athletics|European Indoor Championships]] in [[Glasgow]]. At the 1991 [[1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]] in [[Seville]], Cacho finished again second in the 1500 m, behind [[Noureddine Morceli]].

At the [[Olympic Games]] in [[Barcelona]], Cacho was not considered a serious gold medal prospect. But the Olympic 1500 m final was run at a very pedestrian pace, and Cacho positioned himself perfectly in the final lap, and outsprinted his rivals, with a last lap of 50.6 seconds, to win the [[gold medal]] in 3:40.12.

In 1993 at [[Stuttgart]] in [[1993 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]], Cacho finished second, but took the 1500 m title at the [[1994 European Championships in Athletics#Track|European Championships]] in [[Helsinki]] in the next year. In [[1995 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] at [[Gothenburg]], Cacho only finished in eighth place.

After a relatively lean year in 1995, Cacho was back to his best in the early part of the 1996 season, leading up to the [[1996 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games in Atlanta]]. Although Cacho was the defending [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] 1500 m champion, the final in [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]] was considered to be a match race between Morceli and [[Hicham El Guerrouj]], who had filled the first two places at the previous year's World Championships. Approaching the completion of the third lap, Morceli was leading from El Guerrouj, when suddenly the Moroccan tripped and fell. In taking evasive action, Cacho was forced to leap over the fallen El Guerrouj, in a manoeuvre which he later estimated had lost him 5 metres of ground to Morceli, who had commenced his final lap sprint for the finish. Cacho chased Morceli around the last lap, but was unable to catch him. In the end Morceli won by 5 metres from the second-placed Cacho.

At the [[1997 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] in [[Athens]] in 1997, Cacho won a [[silver medal]] again, and at the end of the same season he finally managed to run his world class time, when he finished second at the 1500 m behind El Guerrouj with a time of 3:28.95, which moved him to third on the all-time world list behind Morceli and El Guerrouj. He won the [[bronze medal]] at the [[1998 European Championships in Athletics#Track|1998 European Championships]] in [[Budapest]], and finished fourth in the [[1999 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] at Seville in 1999. Cacho suffered an [[Achilles' tendon]] injury in 2000, causing him to miss the opportunity to add to his Olympic gold and silver medals at [[2000 Summer Olympics]] in [[Sydney]].

He held the [[List of European records in athletics|European record]] at 1500 m with a time of 3:28.95 for 16 years (1997–2013), until [[Mo Farah]] broke it with a time of 3:28.81.

==International competitions==
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing {{ESP}}
|-
|1987
|[[1987 European Athletics Junior Championships|European Junior Championships]]
|[[Birmingham]], United Kingdom
|12th
|1500 m
|4:00.58
|-
|1988
|[[1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics|World Junior Championships]]
|[[Greater Sudbury|Sudbury, Canada]]
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|1500 m
|[[1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|3:47.31]]
|-
|1989
|[[1989 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|[[Barcelona]], Spain
|6th
|1500 m
|[[1989 IAAF World Cup results#1500 m|3:40.34]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1990
|[[1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Glasgow]], United Kingdom
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|1500 m
|[[1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:44.61]]
|-
|[[1990 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Split, Croatia|Split]], Yugoslavia
|11th
|1500 m
|[[1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:42.21]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1991
|[[1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]]
|[[Seville]], Spain
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|1500 m
|[[1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:42.68]]
|-
|[[1991 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Tokyo]], Japan
|5th
|1500 m
|[[1991 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|3:35.62]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1992
|[[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Barcelona]], Spain
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|1500 m
|[[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres|3:40.12]]
|-
|[[1992 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|[[Havana]], Cuba
|4th
|1500 m
|[[1992 IAAF World Cup results#1500 m|3:42.78]]<sup>1</sup>
|-
|rowspan=2|1993
|[[Athletics at the 1993 Mediterranean Games|Mediterranean Games]]
|[[Narbonne]], France
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|1500 m
|[[Athletics at the 1993 Mediterranean Games – Results#1500 meters|3:32.43]]
|-
|[[1993 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Stuttgart]], Germany
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|1500 m
|[[1993 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|3:35.56]]
|-
|1994
|[[1994 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Helsinki]], Finland
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|1500 m
|[[1994 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:35.27]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1995
|[[1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]]
|[[Barcelona]], Spain
|6th
|1500 m
|[[1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:45.46]]
|-
|[[1995 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Gothenburg]], Sweden
|8th
|1500 m
|[[1995 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|3:37.02]]
|-
|1996
|[[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Atlanta]], United States
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|1500 m
|[[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres|3:36.40]]
|-
|1997
|[[1997 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Athens]], Greece
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|1500 m
|[[1997 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|3:36.63]]
|-
|1998
|[[1998 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Budapest]], Hungary
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|1500 m
|[[1998 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:42.13]]
|-
|1999
|[[1999 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Seville]], Spain
|4th
|1500 m
|[[1999 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|3:31.34]]
|}
<sup>1</sup>Representing Europe

==Personal bests==
'''Outdoor'''
*[[800 metres]] – 1:45.37 (Albacete 1991)
*[[1000 metres]] – 2:16.13 (Andújar 1993)
*[[1500 metres]] – 3:28.95 (Zürich 1997)
*[[Mile run|One mile]] – 3:49.56 (Oslo 1996)
*[[3000 metres]] – 7:37.02 (Seville 1999)
*[[5000 metres]] – 13:46.65 (Seville 2002)
'''Indoor'''
*[[800 metres]] – 1:46.79 (Seville 1993)
*[[1000 metres]] – 2:20.18 (Madrid 1992)
*[[1500 metres]] – 3:35.29 (Seville 1991)
*[[3000 metres]] – 7:36.61 (Stuttgart 1996)

==References==
{{Commons category|Fermín Cacho}}
* [http://barcelona1992.coe.es/ Spanish Olympic Committee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926235734/http://barcelona1992.coe.es/ |date=2006-09-26 }}
*{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ca/fermin-cacho-1.html |title=Fermín Cacho |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304131858/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ca/fermin-cacho-1.html |archivedate=2016-03-04 |df= }}
*{{World Athletics}}
*[http://www.all-athletics.com/node/13450 All-Athletics profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305004458/http://www.all-athletics.com/node/13450 |date=2017-03-05 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before=[[Steve Cram]]|title=[[European record progression 1500 metres men|European record holder men's 1500 m]]|years=13 August 1997 – 19 July 2013|after= [[Mo Farah]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 1500 m Men}}
{{Footer European Champions 1500 m Men}}
{{Spanish Sportsman of the Year}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cacho, Fermin}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from the Province of Soria]]
[[Category:Spanish men middle-distance runners]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Spain]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Spain]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Spain]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Spain]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:European Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Spain]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1993 Mediterranean Games]]
[[Category:Spanish Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish sportsmen]]