Moroccan runner Soufiane El Bakkali achieved a great accomplishment after he succeeded in retaining his gold medal that he won in the 3000m steeplechase race in Tokyo 2020, after repeating the achievement in Paris 2024 To write his name in letters of exceptional gold.
Al-Baqali joined the two legends, Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj and Tunisian Oussama Mellouli, who preceded him in winning two gold medals in the Olympic Games.
There is no doubt about the strength of the Moroccan champion who has embraced glory once again. He is the holder of the Tokyo gold medal and the gold medal of the last World Championship in Budapest, and he was also a candidate once again to win the gold medal.
Mohamed Tindouft
But it was good that two other details played in favour of the Olympic champion. The first was the important role played by his compatriot Mohamed Tindouft, who provided a great service to El Bakkali by turning the race into a faster pace that did not suit the Kenyans and Ethiopians, who usually prefer to slow down and then move to top speed only in the last 200 metres, and then they cannot be competed with if they have the necessary energy that they have saved throughout the calm race.
The race had turned into a very slow pace before the last two laps, which was in favour of the East African runners. This slow pace also caused a big traffic jam, which El Bakkali struggled to get out of and go to the outside lane, which would have forced him to slow down in order to look for a loophole to get out. However, what Tindouft did helped the Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali get out without having to slow down. In fact, the opposite happened after he increased his speed to find the right way out.
Ethiopian Girma’s obsession with harassing Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali
The second detail is what followed after the fierce competition he faced from the Ethiopian Lamecha Girma, who was a real threat to Al-Baqali’s chances of winning the gold medal.
But that fierce competition turned into an obsession, apparently with the Ethiopian runner, who was very busy in the last three hundred meters harassing the Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali and forcing him out to lane three.
The situation was difficult for El Bakkali, as Germa is not an easy competitor, and his speed was very high, making it extremely difficult for El Bakkali to overtake him before the turn, which gave the Ethiopian and even those ahead of them a better chance than El Bakkali, who would have had to make an extra effort. However, Germa’s excessive preoccupation with stopping El Bakkali made him lose focus for a moment and notice moments too late the wooden obstacle that his legs betrayed him in after his mind was preoccupied with the Moroccan, causing him to fall to the ground and El Bakkali getting rid of his most important competitor for the gold.
If what remains is to bet on capabilities only, then Soufiane El Bakkali was fully qualified for it after he surpassed his Kenyan and American competitors to reach the finish line first and be crowned with a huge achievement for Moroccan and Arab sports. Congratulations to the Moroccan champion who has now become a legend.
