Morocco dethrones Kenya in men's 3000m steeplechase at Tokyo 2020

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For the first time in 41 years, someone other than a Kenyan became the Olympic champion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Monday night. Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco won the gold medal in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase. His time of 8:08.90 was due to a push that sent Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia winning silver, and Benjamin Kigen holding onto bronze for Kenya. 

The Kenyans continued to be a dominating factor in being on the podium since 1980, but both Ethiopia and Morocco had two runners looking to keep them from gold. Rain fell on the course before the start of the steeplechase, making the track slippery for the 15 runners in total that were to complete seven laps with 28 hurdles and seven of them with water. 

The Ethiopians lead the pack, with the Japanese runner Miura getting out front before the end of the first lap. Miura opened up the gap and conducted the second lap, but couldn’t stay there for long. He ended up in fifth with the two Ethiopians back out front for the majority of the race. 

On the final lap, the Ethiopians continued to stand out front with El Bakkali splitting the two countries. At the home stretch, it was El Bakkali finding another gear to surpass Girma on the final turn. He ended the race with the Girma crossing second and Kigen making sure that Kenya didn’t stay completely off the podium to take bronze.