Among the most remarkable achievements of national athletics are the feat of Soufiane El Bakkali, gold medalist in 3,000 m steeplechase and Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi, bronze medalist in marathon, during the 19th World Athletics Championships in Budapest (August 19-27).
Since the 10th edition of the World Athletics Championships, organized in Helsinki in 2005, during which Morocco won three medals thanks to Jaouad Gharib, gold medalist in marathon, Hasna Benhassi and Adil Kaouch, silver medalists in 800 m and 1500 m, Moroccan athletes failed to win with two medals in a single edition.
The Olympic and world champion, Soufiane El Bakkali won, for the second consecutive time, the gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase, after finishing the race in 8m 03s 53/100 ahead of his Ethiopian rival Lamecha Girma (8m 05s 44 /100), and the Kenyan Abraham Kibiwot, third (8m 11s 98/100).
With this feat, El Bakkali enters the history of athletics through the front door, killing two birds with one stone: he won the world crown and put an end to the Kenyan domination for years in the 3000 m steeplechase.
If the undisputed master of the 3000 m steeplechase, Soufiane El Bakkali, made Moroccan athletics shine by climbing the steps of the podium in the editions of London 2017 (silver), Doha 2019 (bronze) and Eugene 2022 (gold), the Promising athlete Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi stole the show by winning the first Moroccan women’s marathon medal.
Gardadi signed an exceptional performance by appearing on the register of medalists of the 19th world championship, at the same time calling into question the monopoly of Ethiopian athletes over this distance.
Strong in her determination to shine in this great challenge of 42.195 km, the Moroccan champion won third place in the marathon in 2h 25m 17s, thus becoming the first Moroccan and Arab athlete to achieve this feat.
Moroccan athletics continued its quest for titles at the world level, with the victory of Soukaina Atanane during the 40th edition of the Athens marathon and Anas Assai in 3000 m during the New York indoor meeting, as well as Zouhir Talbi, third in New York half marathon.
Added to these achievements are the distinguished results obtained by the Moroccan national sports team for people with disabilities at the world championships in the category (Paris 2023) after winning seven medals (3 in gold, 2 in silver, 2 in bronze), with two world records broken and a 20th place in the final ranking.
At the continental level, Moroccan athletics, among other sports, won the 9th edition of the Francophonie Games in Kinshasa, DR Congo, and established a new record in terms of the number of medals, with 42 out of the 58 medals won by Morocco.
This year was also marked by the crowning of the national athletics team as champions of the 23rd edition of the Arab Senior Athletics Championship (June 20-24 in Marrakech), after dominating the final medal table with a total of 56 medals, including 17 gold, 25 silver and 14 bronze.
In addition to the achievements of Moroccan athletics, the Mohammed VI International Meeting, stage of the Diamond League, stood at the top of world-class athletics events, during which the Moroccan Olympic champion, Soufiane El Bakkali killed two birds with one stone, with a Best World Performance of the year on this date and a meeting record in the 3000m steeplechase in 7m 56s 68/100.
In 2023, Morocco also consolidated its presence within the International Athletics Federation, with the re-election of the Moroccan Olympic champion, Nawal El Moutawakel, member of the World Athletics Council for a period of four years.
Thanks to the remarkable results obtained by Moroccan sport, all disciplines combined, the Kingdom continues to reap the fruits of its strategic choice consisting of supporting sport and athletes in general, as well as investing massively in sports infrastructure.