Morocco
Soufiane el-Bakkali of Morocco won the 3,000-meter steeplechase to end more than 40 years of Kenyan Olympic dominance.
El-Bakkali won in 8 minutes, 8.90 seconds on a wet track at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. He finished well clear of Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia, who took the silver.
Benjamin Kigen claimed bronze for Kenya after Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale, who was third heading to the final straight, fell. Wale struggled back to his feet and clung on for fourth.
The 25-year-old el-Bakkali was fourth at the last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and on the podium at the last two world championships, but this was his first major title.
Kenya had won nine straight Olympic golds in the 3,000 steeplechase since 1980. Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto, the leading star of the steeplechase, didn’t defend his Olympic title in Tokyo after failing to make the Kenyan team at the national trials.
00:49
CHAN 2024: First-time finalists Madagascar steps into the lion’s den
01:01
2024 African Nations championship: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda reach quarter-finals
00:54
Morocco sends two Canadair planes to battle wildfires in Portugal
01:06
Morocco’s Marhaba 2025 operation brings surge of returning expatriates to Nador port
01:00
Pix of the Day: August 1, 2025
Go to video
Morocco’s argan oil boom threatens forests and rural livelihoods