Morocco: Olympic runner El Bakkali receives warm welcome at home after winning gold

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Moroccan athlete Soufiane El Bakkali arrived at the Rabat-Sale international airport on Sunday after winning men’s 3000m steeplechase gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
El Bakkali, who gave his country its only medal at the Tokyo Games and its first gold medal since 2004, was welcomed by cheerful supporters.
“We came to the airport to receive the Moroccan champion who has honoured his country and national flag. We haven’t been able to win the gold since 2004 and I hope he surpasses other former Moroccan champions, especially since he is still young. I do wish him good luck indeed”, a fan said.
El Bakkali managed to finish the semi-final race while leading the qualifiers at 8:19:00, to qualify for the final race which included 15 competitors.
At the final, the 25-year-old runner led the race and finished first at 8:09:83 minutes, nearly two seconds ahead of his closest rivals Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia and Benjamin Kivin of Kenya.

TRANSLATIONS

SOT, Soufiane El Bakkali, gold medalist of 3000 meters steeplechase in Tokyo Olympics 2020 (Arabic): “As for the 1500 meters race, getting the medal was very difficult. Everybody knows that winning the gold medal was my aspiration and the goal I was working to achieve, but it was difficult because I didn’t take a rest since I left the venue at 2:30 am and woke up at 6 am for the first round. It was quite an effort and couldn’t keep up to the end of the race”

SOT, Soufiane El Bakkali, gold medalist of 3000 meters steeplechase in Tokyo Olympics 2020 (Arabic): “I thank the Arab brothers who cheered for me inside and outside the Olympics. I have received messages from them, and there were a number of Arab journalists that all cheered for me. I do thank them indeed”

SOT, Murad El Bakkali, Soufiane’s uncle (Arabic): “It is an amazing feeling, we are so happy like all other Moroccans. Thanks’ God he was lucky and his efforts paid off. You know how difficult the 1500 meters race is. But his efforts paid off”.

SOT, Abdula Hadi Abror, El Bakkali’s fan (Arabic): “We came to the airport to receive the Moroccan champion who has honored his country and national flag. We haven’t been able to win the gold since 2004 and I hope he surpasses other former Moroccan champions, especially that he still young. I do wish him a good luck indeed”

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