Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali retained his Olympic 3,000m steeplechase title on Wednesday to become just the third Arab to win double gold as world record holder Lamecha Girma suffered a worrying fall.
El Bakkali timed 8:06.05 for victory with US’ Kenneth Rooks taking silver in 8:06.41 and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot claiming bronze (8:06.47).
Ethiopia’s Girma was left prone on the track after falling at a hurdle before being eventually stretchered off.
Photo: AFP
Girma was taken to hospital, but was not undergoing surgery , a source at the Ethiopian athletics federation said.
El Bakkali became the second man to successfully defend his Olympic steeplechase title after Volmari Iso-Hollo of Finland last achieved the feat at the 1936 Berlin Games, but said the year had “not been easy.”
“I was suffering from an injury and I was able to overcome it,” said El Bakkali, who was able to break Ethiopian team tactics with the help of his own teammate Mohamed Tindouft.
Photo: Reuters
“The race was not easy. There was an Ethiopian plan, and thank God my compatriot Tindouft helped me. I asked him during the race to do anything to help me, so he pushed himself towards the front and raised the pace to break the Ethiopian block,” he said.
El Bakkali admitted that his injury woes had even left him thinking he might not participate in Paris.
“Forgive me, I now understand what I did,” he said in tears after the race. “I entered history with this second consecutive Olympic title, and I owe it to the Moroccan fans who did not stop supporting me with their messages that I was unable to respond to, and to the current and former champions.”
The 28-year-old El Bakkali arrived at the Olympics with a target on his back, having won the last three global championships.
After first triumphing at the COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when he became the first non-Kenyan runner to win the Olympic steeplechase title since 1980, he confirmed his status with back-to-back victories in world championships in Eugene, Oregon, and Budapest.
His second Olympic gold in the French capital leaves him in rare company among Arab athletes to have doubled up at the Summer Games.
Only his Moroccan compatriot Hicham El Guerrouj, who won 1,500m and 5,000m gold in Athens 2004, and Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli (1,500m freestyle in Beijing 2008 and 10km marathon in London 2012) have achieved the feat.
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
RSS