Moroccan athlete Soufiane El Bakkali defended his Olympic gold medal in the men's 3000m steeplechase at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He became the only second athlete to retain the Olympic gold medal in the men's 3000m steeplechase event.
Soufiane El Bakkali, who won his first Olympic medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a gold medal in the men's 3000m steeplechase event, finished the Paris 2024 Olympics challenge with his season-best record of 8:06.05 minutes.
Soufiane El Bakkali only became the third athlete to win two Olympic gold medals in the men's 3000m steeplechase
El Bakkali became the only second athlete to defend the men's 3000m steeplechase title in the history of the Summer Olympics. Finnish athlete Volmari Iso-Hollo was the first runner to retain the men's 3000m steeplechase gold medal in the Summer Olympics, as he won the gold medals in Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936.
Apart from El Bakkali and Iso-Hollo, only Kenyan athlete Ezekiel Kemboi won two Olympic gold medals in the men's 3000m steeplechase event (Athens 2004 and London 2012).
American athlete Kenneth Rooks claimed the silver medal after producing his personal best performance, which he clocked in 8:06.41 minutes.
Kenyan racer Abraham Kibiwot clinched the bronze medal (8:06.47 minutes). Since Los Angeles 1984, at least one Kenyan athlete has always managed a podium finish in this event at every Summer Olympics.
Lamecha Girma suffered a fall
World record holder and one of the favourites, Ethiopian Lamecha Girma, suffered a fall in the bell lap and was found unconscious. He was soon hospitalised. His injury wasn’t life-threatening, but his recovery will take some time.
Indian athlete Avinash Sable fought hard in the final event and finished 11th place. He completed the race in 8:14.18 minutes.
