PARIS -- Hicham El Guerrouj started his quest for an historic double by claiming his fourth straight men's 1,500 meters crown at the world championships on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old Moroccan repelled the challenge of Frenchman Mehdi Baala on his way to a winning time of three minutes 31.77 seconds and will now chase another gold in the 5,000 meters.

No athlete has won titles for both those distances at one major event since Finland's Paavo Nurmi in the 1924 Paris Olympics, Reuters reported.

Baala delighted the home fans by taking the silver medal in 3:32.31 but he could not keep pace with El Guerrouj, who jumped into the lead after 600 meters and then took control.

Ivan Heshko of Ukraine came a distant third in 3:33.17 in a race which turned out to be a two-man battle between middle distance king El Guerrouj and local favorite Baala.

The Frenchman took the lead early on before letting Spain's Reyes Estevez run in front for a while. But El Guerrouj, who could not rely on any pace setter, soon decided to have it his own way.

"I was so excited about this race that I could not sleep for five days," said El Guerrouj, who ran to the stands after crossing the line to lift Baala's baby girl, five-month-old Amelle, in his arms.

"I decided to accelerate with 900 meters to go and that was the right decision," he said.

Cheered on by deafening roars from the Stade de France crowd on a mild, windy evening, Baala stayed right behind El Guerrouj but could not produce the acceleration he needed to ruin the Moroccan's plans. "It was Hicham's race," said Baala. "I tried to follow him but just couldn't. Being up there on the podium with him is great. He's such a fantastic athlete."