El Bakkali won the 3000m obstacle course twice in a row
Girma was in high form before the tournament when he set an indoor record with a time of 7 minutes 23 seconds 81 in February 2023, and a world record with a time of 7 minutes 52 seconds 11 was set at the Diamond League Paris in June/ 2023.
The Ethiopian won a silver medal at Tokyo 2021, a silver medal at the 2019 and 2022 worlds. But Girma was powerless to overthrow El Bakkali and could not change the color of the medal at Budapest 2023.
Girma won the world silver medal for the third time in a row with a time of 8 minutes 5 seconds 44, while El Bakkali successfully defended the title with 8 minutes 3 seconds 53. At Eugene 2022, the Moroccan athlete won the gold medal with 8 minutes 25. seconds 13.
The scenario in Budapest 2023 is similar to Tokyo 2021, when Girma won the silver medal with 8 minutes 10 ten 38 and El Bakkali finished first with 8 minutes 8 seconds 90. At that time, El Bakkali broke Kenya's dominance through eight Olympic Games since Polish athlete Bronislaw Malinowski at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Kenya has dominated the men's 3000m hurdles since 1968, winning gold in every Olympics except Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980 - two tournaments they boycotted.
"After Eugene 2022, I'm really proud to win another gold medal," El Bakkali said after the medal ceremony on August 22. "I prepared well, but the final night had many very strong athletes. I was ready, prepared and believed that I could win. This gold medal gives me more motivation ahead of Paris 2024, where I want to defend the title. champion".
Meanwhile, Girma did not disappoint with a third consecutive world silver medal. He emphasized that he was prepared physically and technically when he broke the world record and admitted that he might lose focus in the final 3000m obstacle course Budapest 2023.
The bronze medal belonged to Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya with 8 minutes 11 seconds 98. The next places belonged to Leonard Kipkemoi Bett of Kenya (8 minutes 12 seconds 26), George Beamish of New Zealand (8 minutes 13 seconds 46) and Ryuji Miura of Japan (8 minutes 13 seconds 70). Meanwhile, Getnet Wales - Ethiopian athlete finished fourth in 2021 as well as at the world athletics tournament 2019, 2022 - disappointing when finishing 11th with 8 minutes 21 seconds 3.
