Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali is among the history books after successfully defending his title in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old, competing in just his second event this year, raced through the finish line in a time of 8:06.05 to become the first man since 1932 to defend a steeplechase Olympic title.
El Bakkali’s consistency over the years is somewhat frightening, as the Moroccan remains undefeated in all four of his last four global events, winning the gold medal at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships to go with his gold from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
GOLD for Soufiane El Bakkali 🇲🇦 in the men’s 3000mSc!!!🥇🔥
Only in his second race of the season, he won GOLD in a time of 8:06.05 to become the first man since 1932 to defend a steeplechase Olympic title.
🇺🇸 Kenneth Rooks 🥈
🇰🇪 Abraham Kibiwott 🥉#Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/MndUlLVS8Q— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) August 7, 2024
Kenneth Rooks finished second with a huge personal best of 8:06.41, with the American talking home a surprise silver medal, despite being in the lead for a large part of the race. Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot clinched the bronze medal, clocking a season’s best (SB) 8:06.47.
World record-holder Lamecha Girma did not finish the race after taking an unfortunate fall with about 200 m to go, which eventually saw him carried off the track on a stretcher.
The Tunisian duo of Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui and Ahmed Jaziri finished fourth and fifth with Jhinaoui setting a national record of 8:07.73, while Jaziri ended with a personal best of 8:08.02.
