Sunday, 9 August, Abdeslam Ahizoune, President of the Royal Moroccan Athletics University, met with Soufian El Bakkali the Olympic champion, crowned 3000m medalist, at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

However, The Royal University of Morocco honored champion Soufian El Bakkali with a ceremony at the University’s headquarters attended by the President of the University, Abdeslam Ahizoune, also several members of the Moroccan athletics team who competed in the Tokyo Olympics, and members of the National Technical Committee.

In the same regard, Abdeslam Ahizoune said in a press statement that winning the gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics was a source of pride for Moroccan and national athletics.

“This is the culmination of the Moroccan people’s efforts, and the future will be brighter, as will our participation in the 2024 Olympics.”

It’s pertinent to note that Moroccan athlete Soufian El Bakkali will compete in the Diamond League competition at the 3000 meters steeplechase later this month in Paris.

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Soufiane El Bakkali, born on 7 January, 1996 is a Moroccan male steeplechase runner. El Bakkali has built up the skills necessary during the last three years, finishing fourth at the Rio Olympics and silver at the World Athletics Championships in London in 2017.
He even broke the 8-minute barrier at the Herculis meeting in Monaco in 2018 (7:58.15), making him the tenth fastest runner over the distance. At the Monaco Diamond League in August, the Moroccan set the fastest world time in the 3,000 meters steeplechase, finishing in 8:08.04 minutes. He won a 1500m race in 3:34:51 at the Marseille international athletics meeting on 3rd September, 2020. Then, El Bakkali finished third in the 1500m at the Doha Diamond League meeting three weeks later, recording his best time over the distance of 3:33.45.
With these accomplishments, he got off to a good start after a long gap caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Morocco stayed off the podiums from 1992 to 2004, when Hicham El Guerrouj won the 1500m and 5000m races in Athens in 2004, but Olympic gold stopped entering the Moroccan treasury until Sofiane El Bakkali arrived and brought Moroccan athletics back to the forefront.
Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco wins a historic gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, he was able to finish the race in 8:09.83 minutes, about two seconds behind his closest competitor, the Ethiopian Lamecha Girma, putting him at the top of the rankings.
Thus, Morocco won its first medal in Tokyo, and the first gold medal for Morocco since Hicham El Guerrouj’s gold medals in the 1500 meters and 5000 meters in Athens 17 years ago.
With this, El-Bakkali ends Kenyan runners’ dominance in the race, after they won all nine gold medals in the 3000m steeplechase since Los Angeles 1984 until now, and all gold since 1968 except for the 1976 and 1980 sessions that Kenya boycotted, and the three main medalists were Kenyans at other times.
Al-Bakkali now aspires to more, especially since he is still in his thirties, and is expected to compete for new medals in the next Olympics in Paris at the age of 29, in addition to his upcoming participation in the world championships, which will be the first in the United States in 2022.

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Today, Thursday, the Royal Moroccan University of Athletics held a party in honor of the members of the national team at the National Institute in Rabat, before heading to the Japanese capital, Tokyo, to compete in the Olympic Games, which are scheduled for the next 23 July to 8 August.

It is recorded that Gymnastics, “the mother of all sports,” has the most representation in Morocco’s delegation, with 15 runners, primarily Soufian El Baqali, the 3000 meters steeplechase world champion, who is among the candidates for an Olympic medal, as well as his compatriot, Rabab Arafi, who will defy the odds in the 800 and 1,500 meters, while the runner Abdelaati Iguider is absent.

In addition to Al Beqali, Mohamed Tendoft and Abdelkarim Benzahra are present, while the trio of Mostafa Ismaili, Abdelaati Al-Kas, and Nabil Osama compete 800 metres away, with young Anas Al-Saai and AbdLatif Al-Saidi defending their fortunes in 1,500 metres.

At the long-distance level, Morocco participates in the 5000-10,000-metre Zuhair Talibi, and Sufyan Boukantar, 500 metres, Mohamed Reda Al-Arabi, Othman Al-Kumari and Hamza Sahly, in the Maraton race at the male level.

The Moroccan National Olympic Committee announced the final list of Moroccan champions competing in the Summer Olympics, “Tokyo 2020,” on Tuesday. The 48 names will compete in 18 sports classes, hoping to be crowned “Olympian,” following the bronze medal won by boxer Mohamed Rabii at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

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