El Idrissi represented Morocco at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 5,000 metres. He ran in the third heat against fourteen other athletes, including United States' Bernard Lagat, and Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, both of whom were heavy favorites in this event. He finished the race in eleventh place by six seconds behind Switzerland's Philippe Bandi, with a time of 14:05.30. El Idrissi, however, failed to advance into the final, as he placed thirty-first overall, and was ranked farther below four mandatory slots for the next round.