Soufiane El Bakkali

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Soufiane El Bakkali
Spc. Benard Keter makes the finals in 3,000m steeplechase (51357297745) 2.jpg
El Bakkali at the 2020 Olympics
Personal information
NationalityMoroccan
Born (1996-01-07) 7 January 1996 (age 25)
Fez, Morocco
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight62 kg (137 lb)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)1500 metres–3000 metres steeplechase
ClubFCC Fes[2]
Coached byKarim Tlemcani[2]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • 1500 m – 3:31.95 (2021)
  • 3000 m – 7:49.68 (2016)
  • 3000 mS – 7:58.15 ( Monaco 2018)
  • 5000 m – 13:47.76 (2014)[3]
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 3000 m st.
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 London 3000 m st.
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Doha 3000 m st.

Soufiane El Bakkali (Arabic: سفيان البقالي, romanized sufian lbeqqali, born 7 January 1996) is a Moroccan male steeplechase runner. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics.

At age eighteen he placed fourth at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics, then made his senior debut at the 2014 African Championships in Athletics, taking tenth at the 3000 metres steeplechase.[4] He also competed in cross country running and was 18th as a junior at the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.[5] He gained selection for Morocco at the 2016 Summer Olympics after a personal best of 8:14.41 minutes to take fourth at the Herculis meeting.[6]

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he improved his personal best further to 8:14.35 minutes and placed fourth.[1] He won the silver medal at the 2017 and the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships.

El Bakkali qualified to represent Morocco at the 2020 Summer Olympics[7] where he won a gold medal, ahead of Lamecha Girma and Benjamin Kigen. He thus became the first non-Kenyan-born athlete to win a gold at the Olympics or World Championships since 1987.

On 18 september 2021, El Bakkali won the Kip Keino Classic championship in Nairobi, Kenya. He finished first in the men's 3000 m steeplechase with a timing of 8:21.20[8]'[9]

International competitions[]

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2014 World Junior Championships Eugene, United States 4th 3000 m s'chase 8:34.98
African Championships Marrakesh, Morocco 10th 3000 m s'chase 8:59.66
2015 World Cross Country Championships Guiyang, China 18th Junior race 24:46
7th Junior race 139 pts
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4th 3000 m s'chase 8:14.35
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 2nd 3000 m s'chase 8:14.49
2018 Mediterranean Games Tarragona, Spain 1st 3000 m s'chase 8:20.97
African Championships Asaba, Nigeria 2nd 3000 m s'chase 8:28.01
2019 African Games Rabat, Morocco 3rd 3000 m s'chase 8:19.45
World Championships Doha, Qatar 3rd 3000 m s'chase 8:03.76
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan – 1500 m DNF
1st 3000 m s'chase 8:08.90

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Soufiane El Bakkali Archived 22 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Rio2016. Retrieved on 19 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b Soufiane Elbakkali Archived 19 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine. nbcolympics.com
  3. ^ Soufiane El Bakkali Archived 27 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. All-Athletics. Retrieved on 19 August 2016.
  4. ^ 2014 African Championships in Athletics Results Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Marrakech2014. Retrieved on 19 August 2016.
  5. ^ Soufiane El Bakkali Archived 22 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 19 August 2016.
  6. ^ 3000 Metres Steeplechase men Herculis MONACO Monaco (Stade Louis II), MONACO 15 JUL 2016. IAAF. Retrieved on 19 August 2016. Archived 23 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Zerbaoui, Josef Abdessalam (26 February 2020). "Moroccan Athlete El Bakkali Has Sights on Gold at 2020 Olympic Games". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. ^ Toutate, Issam. "Morocco's El Bakkali Outruns Kenyans at Home". https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/. Retrieved 20 September 2021. External link in |website= (help)
  9. ^ "Le Marocain Soufiane El Bakkali réalise un exploit au Kenya". Le Site Info (in French). 18 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.

External links[]

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