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Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco won gold in the Olympic men's 3,000 metres steeplechase on Monday, breaking Kenya's stranglehold on an event they had won nine times in a row.
The 25-year-old El Bakkali, fourth in the 2016 Olympics and bronze medallist in the 2019 world championships, finished in a time of 8:08.90.
Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia claimed silver, clocking 8:10.38, and Benjamin Kigen of Kenya took the bronze in 8:11.45.
Soufiane El Bakkali is overcome with emotion after winning the men's 3,000m steeplechase
The Moroccan pushed to the front on the final lap to avenge a fourth-placed finish in 2016
Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya, the 2016 Olympic champion, failed to qualify for the Games, reducing the East African nation's chance of winning a 10th straight Olympic steeplechase gold since 1984.
El Bakkali ran a patient, tactical race on a night when earlier in the evening the heavens
