Moroccan international athlete Soufiane El Bakkali was crowned, on August 22 in Budapest, world champion in the 3000-meter steeplechase for the second consecutive time at the World Athletics Championships.
El Bakkali, the reigning Olympic champion, recorded 8 minutes, 3 seconds, and 53 tenths of a second, ahead of Ethiopian Lamecha Girma, the event’s world record holder, and Kenyan Abraham Kibiwot.
Following his crowning, El Bakkali expressed his delight in obtaining another gold, following the one he snatched in Eugene last year, stressing that this win is yet another motivating factor to further prepare for the Paris Olympic Games.
Earlier on July 16, El Bakkali won the 3000 meters steeplechase at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia, Poland, recording 8 minutes and 3 seconds 16/100ths, breaking this meeting’s previous record and beating Kenyans Abraham Kibiwot (8:08.03) and Leonard Kipkemoi Bett (8:09.45).
Soufiane El Bakkali had already won the 3000-m steeplechase at the Stockholm meeting on July 2 and Mohammed VI International Meeting, the second stage of the Diamond League, in Rabat on May 28.
It should be recalled that the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) named El Bakkali Africa’s Best Male Athlete for the year 2022.
According to CAA, the Moroccan Olympic champion, Diamond League winner, and best performer of the season (7:58:28) beat Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, holder of the Marathon World Record, and Emmanuel Korir, the 800-m world champion.