RABAT, September 3, 2008 (AFP) - Morocco's 1984 Olympic 5000 metres champion Said Aouita has been handed the task of rebuilding his nation's athletics fortunes after a desperate Olympics it was announced on Wednesday as he was appointed technical director.

The 49-year-old former 1500m and 5000m world record holder will have to improve on the return of just a silver in the men's marathon and a bronze in the women's 800m - Morocco did win gold in the men's 1500m but Rashid Ramzi won it running for his adopted country of Bahrain.

'Said Aouita is tasked with injecting a new dynamism into national athletics,' read a statement from the Moroccan Athletics Federation.

'His principal objective is to improve the performances of those athletes capable of winning medals at international level and unearthing new talent.'

Aouita has previous experience in coaching, not all of them happy ones such as when he was distance running coach for the Australians for two years from 2002.

Aouita was subsequently appointed an adviser to Qatar's Academy for Sporting Excellence based in Doha and also worked for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV station.