Soufiane El Bakkali (; born 7 January 1996) is a Moroccan male runner specializing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion, having previously finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the World Athletics Championships, El Bakkali won two gold medals, winning his first in 2022 and later in 2023, He won silver in 2017 and bronze in 2019. He also placed third at the 2019 African Games and second at the 2018 African Championships.
El Bakkali was the 2022 Diamond League champion in his specialist event.
Career
At age 18, Soufiane El Bakkali placed fourth in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics, and then made his senior debut at the 2014 African Championships in Athletics, taking tenth in the event. He also competed in cross country running and was 18th as a junior at the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
He gained selection for Morocco at the 2016 Summer Olympics after a personal best of 8:14.41 minutes to take fourth in his specialist event at the Herculis meeting. At the Rio Olympics, El Bakkali improved his personal best further to 8:14.35 minutes and finished fourth.
He won the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships held in London in a time of 8:14.49 behind only Conseslus Kipruto who ran 8:14.12. Two years later, at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar El Bakkali earned a bronze with a season's best of 8:03.76 behind Kipruto (8:01.35) and Lamecha Girma (8:01.36).
On 3 September 2020, he won the 1500 metres race at the 14th International Marseille Athletics Meeting in France.
El Bakkali qualified to represent Morocco at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he won the gold medal in his signature event with a time of 8:08.90, ahead of Girma in 8:10.38 and Benjamin Kigen (8:11.45). He thus became the first non-Kenyan-born athlete to win the title since Poland's Bronislaw Malinowski did so at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and the first non-Kenyan born gold medallist at the Olympics or World Championships since 1987.
On 18 September 2021, El Bakkali won his speciality event at the Kip Keino Classic meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, finishing with an 8:21.20 clocking.
On 18 July 2022 at the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, El Bakkali became the world champion, winning the gold medal in the 3000 m steeplechase with a time of 8:25.13 ahead of Lamecha Girma (8:26.01) and Conseslus Kipruto (8:27.92). In September at the Diamond League final in Zürich, he claimed his first Diamond Trophy. Just three days later, he capped his fine season with an African best in the 2000 m steeplechase, running 5:14.06 at the Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb to move to third on the world all-time list for the event. El Bakkali was undefeated and ran the fastest time in the world that season, clocking 7:58.28 at Rabat Diamond League. In November, he was shortlisted for the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year award.
On 22 August 2023, El Bakkali won his second World Championship gold medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships after placing first in the final race with a time of 8:03.53.
Personal life
On 14 September 2023, El Bakkai donated some of his blood for the needy affected by the 2023 Marrakesh-Safi earthquake.
Achievements
International competitions
Circuit wins and titles
Diamond League champion 3000 m steeplechase: 2022
3000 metres steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses
2017: Stockholm Bauhaus-galan, Rabat Meeting () 2018: Monaco Herculis ( PB) 2019: Doha Diamond League (WL), Monaco Herculis (WL), Meeting de Paris 2020: Monaco (WL) 2021: Rome Golden Gala in Florence 2022: Doha (WL), Rabat (WL ), Lausanne Athletissima, Zürich Weltklasse 2023: Rabat (WL MR PB), Stockholm, Silesia (MR), Xiamen (MR) World Continental Tour 3000 metres steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses 2022: Zagreb Hanžeković Memorial (2000 m st.)
Personal bests
1500 metres – 3:31.95 (Doha 2021) 2000 metres indoor – 5:00.55 (Liévin 2019) 3000 metres – 7:37.18 (Chorzów 2021) 3000 metres indoor – 7:41.88 (Liévin 2018) 5000 metres – 13:47.76 (Rabat 2014) 5000 metres indoor – 13:10.60 (Birmingham 2017) 2000 metres steeplechase – 5:14.06 (Zagreb 2022) African best 3000 metres steeplechase – 7:56.68 (Rabat 2023) the fastest time in the world for 11 years, 8th of all time