Soufiane El Bakkali is a track and field athlete who has competed for Morocco.
He competed at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
After missing the podium at Rio de Janeiro 2016, El Bakkali returned to his second Games in Tokyo five years later as one of the top medal contenders in the 3000 metres steeplechase. There, he imitated the strategy of the previous Kenyan steeplechasers by quickening over the first barrier. He caught Lamecha Girma at the final turn and raced through the finish line for the gold (8:08.90), while the latter took the silver. With this feat, he became the first non-Kenyan athlete to snatch the steeplechase title since Bronisław Malinowski topped the podium at Moscow 1980. His triumph also snapped a 37-year-old streak of Kenyan dominance in the Olympic steeplechase race.
