He came close to winning a medal at the 2004 World Indoor Championships but he missed out after coming fourth in the 800 m behind Brazil's Osmar dos Santos. He improved his personal best to 1:43.68 at the Weltklasse Zürich meeting prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics. He did not build on this form on his Olympic debut, however, as he was eliminated in his semi-final and finished in seventh place. Laâlou qualified for the 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final but again finished in seventh place. He closed his season on a high note as he reached the podium twice at the 2004 Pan Arab Games a month later, winning the bronze medal over 800 m and anchoring home the Moroccan 4×400 metres relay team to the silver medal behind Saudi Arabia.