Rabat – Morocco’s Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali won a gold medal in the 3,000 meters steeplechase at the first phase of the 2022 Doha Wanda Diamond League on Friday.
El Bakkali finished the race in 8 minutes 9 seconds and 66 milliseconds, ahead of Ethiopia’s Girma Lamecha (8:09.67) and Kenya’s Kibiwot Abraham (8:16.40), according to Doha Diamond League.
The Royal Moroccan Athletics Federation (FRMA) said on its Facebook page that El Bakkali’s performance is the “best international achievement of the season.”
With this victory, the Moroccan athlete is making a strong return to international competitions.
The next stage of the Diamond League will take place on May 21 in Birmingham, London.
In August 2021, the Moroccan athlete ended Kenya’s dominance over the men’s 3,000m steeplechase at the Olympics, winning the gold medal at Tokyo 2020.
He ranked first with a time of 08:08:90, defeating Ethiopia’s Girma Lamesha and Kenyan Kegen Benjamin, who came second and third respectively.
The 26-year-old became the first non-Kenyan to win the 3,000m steeplechase’ Olympic gold since Poland’s Bronisław Malinowski won the title in Moscow in 1980.
El Bakkali’s gold was the first Moroccan gold at the Olympics since Hicham El Guerrouj won the gold medal in both the 1500 meters and the 5000 meters in Athens in 2004.
In recognition of his efforts in the Olympics, King Mohammed VI congratulated El Bakkali, commending “this well-deserved global crown” and wishing him “success and brilliance in your rich sporting career.”
The athlete had previously won bronze in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2019 World Athletics Championship in Qatar and a silver in London in 2017.
He also won the 3,000 meters steeplechase race at the 2021 Rome Diamond league in June 2021, breaking the world’s fastest time record of the season.
Read Also: Olympics: El Bakkali Says His Career ‘Will Not Stop Here’
