Rabat – Moroccan athlete Soufiane El Bakkali won on Thursday the men’s 3,000 meters steeplechase at the Diamond League final in Zurich, Switzerland.
El Bakkal claimed the title with a dominant performance, as he recorded a time of eight minutes, seven seconds, and 67 milliseconds.
The Moroccan runner defeated Ethiopia’s runner-up Getnet Wale, who came second, and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot who finished third.
El Bakkali’s win comes after the Moroccan athlete failed to clinch the Diamond League title for five years.
In July, El Bakkali was crowned world champion in the 3,000 meters steeplechase at the World Athletics Championship, which took place in Eugene, the United States.
In May, the 25-year-old athlete won a gold medal in the first phase of the 2022 Doha Wanda Diamond league.
Last year, the Moroccan runner made history after he won Morocco’s first gold medal in the 3,000 meters steeplechase race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The Moroccan gold-winner finished the race in eight minutes, 25 seconds, and 13 milliseconds, surpassing Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma and Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto.
El Bakkali’s consecutive wins and outsdandig performance restored Morocco’s hope for gold, following a series of disappointing performances.
Read also: El Bakkali: 1st Moroccan to Win 3,000 Steeplechase Gold at World Championships
