Hicham Mesbahi is a boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 from Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 who, as of 2008, has participated in three Olympics. He was born in Casablanca

Casablanca

Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

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In 2000, when Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 hosted the Summer Olympics

Boxing at the 2000 Summer Olympics

The boxing competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney was held over a period of sixteen days at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour...

, he fell in the second round. At the 2004 Summer Olympics

Boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place in the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall. The event was only open to men and bouts were contested over four rounds of two minutes each...

 where he fought for his native North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

n country he was defeated in the second round of the flyweight (51 kg) division by Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

's Andrzej Rzany

Andrzej Rzany

Andrzej Rżany is a boxer from Poland.He participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics for his native European country...

. He qualified for the Athens Games by winning the gold medal at the 1st AIBA African 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

1st AIBA African 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

The 1st AIBA African 2004 Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament was held in Casablanca, Morocco from January 15 to January 22, 2004. It was the first chance for amateur boxers from Africa to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics after the 2003 All-Africa Games in Abuja, Nigeria...

 in Casablanca, Morocco. In the final of the event he defeated Algeria's Mebarek Soltani

Mebarek Soltani

Mebarek Soltani is a boxer from Algeria. He is the nephew of Hocine Soltani.He participated in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics for his native North African country. In 2000 he was stopped in the first round of the light flyweight competition...

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For the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 Mesbahi qualified at bantamweight beating among others Issa Samir even though he lost the final of the qualifier to Abdelhalim Ouradi

Abdelhalim Ouradi

Abdelhalim Ourradi is an Algerian boxer. He won the 2007 All-African title in the bantamweight division and qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics for his native North African country.-Career:...

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