Commonwealth Games champion Abraham Kibiwott secured a bronze medal on Wednesday, increasing Kenya’s medal tally to five.
Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco, with a late surge, became the first man to successfully defend the Olympic 3000m steeplechase title since Volmari Iso-Hollo in 1928 and 1932. El Bakkali clocked 8 minutes 06.05 seconds, thwarting Kenya’s plan to reclaim dominance in the water and barrier event lost in Tokyo.
American Kenneth Rooks took silver with a personal best time of 8:06.41.
Kibiwott, who won bronze at last year’s World Championships, improved on his 10th place finish in Tokyo, recording a season best time of 8:06.47 to secure the bronze medal. Fellow Kenyan representatives Simon Koech and Amos Serem finished seventh with a time of 8:09.26 and 14th with a time of 8:19.74, respectively.
Kibiwott dedicated his bronze medal to his six-day-old daughter as of August 7.
“I wanted the gold medal but we fell short. I’m picking many positives because I finished 10th in Tokyo and now I’m on the podium. It is a big achievement to me and I dedicate the medal to my daughter who we welcomed just six days ago. We were blessed with her just a few days before coming to Paris and so this Olympics is all about her,” elated Kibiwott said.
Abraham Kibiwott’s last race before the Olympics was at the Paris Diamond League, where he also finished third. Champion Soufiane El Bakkali arrived in Paris with a target on his back, having won the last three global championships.
After his initial triumph at the Tokyo Olympics, where he became the first non-Kenyan runner to win the Olympic steeplechase title since 1980, El Bakkali solidified his status with consecutive victories at the World Championships in Eugene and Budapest.
His second Olympic gold in the French capital places him among the few Arab athletes to achieve such a feat at the Summer Games. Only his fellow Moroccan, Hicham El Guerrouj, who won the 1500m and 5000m gold in Athens 2004, and Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli, who won the 1500m freestyle in Beijing 2008 and the 10km marathon in London 2012, have matched this accomplishment.
