Soufiane El Bakkali (; born 7 January 1996) is a Moroccan middle-distance runner who specializes in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually Abbreviation, abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase (athletics), steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 met ...

. He is a two-time Olympic champion, having won gold in the event at both the 2020 Tokyo and

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. He has also achieved significant success at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

, securing back-to-back gold medals in 2022 and 2023. El Bakkali was also the

2022 Diamond League The 2022 Diamond League was the thirteenth season of the Diamond League, an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The competition was a revision to the top level sport of athletics, athletics series since ...

champion in his specialist event and is known for breaking

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

's decades-long dominance in the steeplechase.

Career

At age 18, El Bakkali placed fourth in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics, and then made his senior debut at the

2014 African Championships in Athletics The 2014 African Championships in Athletics was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 10 to 14 August 2014. The competition was the 19th edition of Africa senior championships. The competition served as preparation to African athletes for the next conti ...

, placing tenth in the event. He also competed in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

and was 18th as a junior at the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He gained selection for Morocco at the 2016 Summer Olympics after a personal best of 8:14.41 minutes to take fourth in his specialist event at the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events. Herculis is now part of the Diamond League. Editions World records Over the course of its histo ...

meeting. At the

Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, El Bakkali improved his personal best further to 8:14.35 minutes and finished fourth.Soufiane El Bakkali
. Rio2016. Retrieved on 19 August 2016. Soufiane El Bakkali Golden Gala 2017

He won the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships held in London in a time of 8:14.49 behind only

Conseslus Kipruto Conseslus Kipruto (born 8 December 1994) is a Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was the Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympic champion in the event. At t ...

who ran 8:14.12. Two years later, at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar El Bakkali earned a bronze with a season's best of 8:03.76 behind Kipruto (8:01.35) and Lamecha Girma (8:01.36). On 3 September 2020, he won the 1500 metres race at the 14th International Marseille Athletics Meeting in France. El Bakkali qualified to represent Morocco at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

where he won the gold medal in his signature event with a time of 8:08.90, ahead of Girma in 8:10.38 and Benjamin Kigen (8:11.45). He thus became the first non-Kenyan-born athlete to win the title since Poland's Bronislaw Malinowski did so at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and the first non-Kenyan born gold medallist at the Olympics or World Championships since 1987. On 18 September 2021, El Bakkali won his speciality event at the Kip Keino Classic meeting in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya, finishing with an 8:21.20 clocking. Soufiane El Bakkali Oregon 2022

On 18 July 2022 at the

held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, El Bakkali became the world champion, winning the gold medal in the 3000 m steeplechase with a time of 8:25.13 ahead of Lamecha Girma (8:26.01) and Conseslus Kipruto (8:27.92). In September at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

final in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, he claimed his first Diamond Trophy. Just three days later, he capped his fine season with an African best in the 2000 m steeplechase, running 5:14.06 at the

Hanžeković Memorial Hanžeković Memorial (), known also as Zagreb Meeting and Hanžek (hypocorism of the surname ''Hanžeković''), is an annual three-day Athletics (sport), athletics event held first weekend of September at three different locations in Zagreb, Cro ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

to move to third on the world all-time list for the event. El Bakkali was undefeated and ran the fastest time in the world that season, clocking 7:58.28 at

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Diamond League. In November, he was shortlisted for the

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Male Athlete of the Year award. On 22 August 2023, El Bakkali won his second World Championship gold medal in the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

after placing first in the final race with a time of 8:03.53. On 7 August 2024, at the Paris Olympics, El Bakkali defended his Olympic title in the

3000 m steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the ...

, winning in a time of 8:06.05. He overtook American Kenneth Rooks in the final straightaway, who took the lead in the bell lap.

Personal life

On 14 September 2023, El Bakkali donated some of his blood for the needy affected by the

2023 Marrakesh-Safi earthquake On 8 September 2023 at 23:11 Daylight saving time in Morocco, DST (22:11 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC), an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent'') struck Morocco's Al Haouz Province. The ear ...

Achievements

International competitions

Circuit wins and titles

champion 3000 m steeplechase: Diamond blue

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

:: 3000 metres steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses :*

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

: Stockholm Bauhaus-galan, Rabat Meeting () :*

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: Monaco Herculis ( PB) :*

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Doha Diamond League The Doha Diamond League is an annual one-day track and field meeting held at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is part of the Diamond League – the top level international circuit for the sport. It is typically held in May as the ...

(WL), Monaco Herculis (WL),

Meeting de Paris Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Di ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

: Monaco (WL) :*

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

: Rome Golden Gala in Florence :*

: Doha (WL), Rabat (WL ), Lausanne Athletissima, Zürich Weltklasse :*

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

: Rabat (WL MR PB),

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

(MR),

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

(MR) * World Continental Tour :: 3000 metres steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses :* 2022: Zagreb Hanžeković Memorial (2000 m st.)

Personal bests

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

– 3:31.95 (

2021) **

2000 metres The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles. The global governing body World At ...

indoor – 5:00.55 (

Liévin Liévin (; ; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The inhabitants are called ''Liévinois'' in French. Overview The town of Liévin is an old mining area of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this town is of modest size but ...

2019) *

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

– 7:33.87 (

2023) ** 3000 metres indoor – 7:41.88 (

2018) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

– 13:47.76 (

2014) ** 5000 metres indoor – 13:10.60 (

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

2017) * 2000 metres steeplechase – 5:14.06 (

2022) African best *

– 7:56.68 (

2023) the fastest time in the world for 11 years, 8th of all time

Awards

Confederation of African Athletics The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA; French: ''Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme'') is the continental association for the sport of athletics in Africa. It is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. It organises the African Championships ...

Best Male Athlete of the Year: 2022 * Commander of the

Order of the Throne The Order of the Throne () is a state decoration of the Kingdom of Morocco awarded for distinguished services of a civil or military nature. The Order was instituted on 16 May 1963 by King Hassan II of Morocco, who reigned between 1961 and 199 ...

: 2024

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakkali, Soufiane Living people 1996 births Moroccan male steeplechase runners Moroccan male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Morocco Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Morocco Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Morocco Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Games bronze medalists for Morocco Sportspeople from Fez, Morocco Mediterranean Games gold medalists in athletics Olympic gold medalists for Morocco Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Diamond League winners 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen African Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)