Tokyo Olympics: Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali wins steeplechase gold as Hellen Obiri wins 5,000m silver

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Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali celebrates winning gold in the men's 3,000m steeplechase at the Tokyo OlympicsImage source, Getty Images
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Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali celebrates winning gold in the men's 3,000m steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics

Kenya's dominance of the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase at the Olympics was ended by Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali who won gold ahead of Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma and Kenya's Benjamin Kigen.

Kenya's Hellen Obiri had to settle once again for Olympic silver in the women's 5,000m as Ethiopian-born Sifan Hassan claimed the first of the three gold medals she is hoping to win in Tokyo.

Namibian sprinter Christine Mboma twice broke Allyson Felix's under-20 world and Olympic record as she reached Tuesday's final of the women's 200m on day 10 of the Tokyo Olympics.

Wrestler Blessing Oborududu secured Nigeria's first medal of the Games by reaching Tuesday's final of the women's 68kg freestyle event.

Athletics afternoon session

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Ivory Coast's Marie-Josee Ta Lou in action at the Tokyo Olympcis

Soufiane El Bakkali won Morocco's first medal of the Tokyo Games as he claimed gold in the men's 3,000m steeplechase.

His victory ended Kenya's dominance of the men's event at the Olympics, the east Africans had won gold at every Games since 1968, apart from 1976 and 1980 when they boycotted the global showpiece.

"I am so used to seeing Kenyans win, it's a big accomplishment for me," the Moroccan said after his win.

"I have been aiming for this for years and this was my opportunity to show that Morocco is capable of winning this prize in front of the Kenyans.

"It was not easy for me to be in front of the Kenyans and Ethiopians. I know how hard it is to be first in front of them."

"I have been thinking about being more confident, working on my self-confidence and also trusting that I can win.

"I have tried so many times to compare myself with the Kenyans and Ethiopians to see whether I could reach this gold, and I did."

Lamecha Girma, who was a late call-up to the Ethiopian team, won silver with Kenya's Benjamin Kigen claiming bronze and his nation's first medal in Tokyo.

A second Ethiopian Getnet Wale was fourth followed by Eritrea's Yemane Haileselassie in fifth, Kenya's Abraham Kibiwot was 10th and Morocco's Mohamed Tindouft in 13th.

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Hellen Obiri with a Kenyan flag celebrating her silver medal in the women's 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics

Kenya's double women's 5,000m world champion Hellen Obiri had to settle once again for Olympic silver, as she did in 2016, with Ethiopian-born Sifan Hassan claiming the win as she attempts to win an unprecedented three golds in Tokyo.

Hassan, who fell in her 1,500m heat earlier on Monday, proved to have the better sprint finish over the last 200 metres to win ahead of Obiri with Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay taking the bronze medal.

Obiri's compatriot Agnes Tirop was fourth ahead of two more Ethiopians Ejgayehu Taye (5th) and Senbere Teferi (6th) with a third Kenyan Lilian Kasait Rengeruk back in 12th place.

"To be number 2, it is quite amazing because it is a big achievement," Obiri insisted after the race

"The race was slow, nobody wanted to go in front. I know that Sifan (Hassan) is good over the final 400m and I tried to hold her, but there was nothing I could do. I tried my best.

"I am so happy because I didn't expect the Olympics to happen because of the pandemic. Last year I was in very good shape, but this year I was 80%."

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Namibia's Christine Mboma reacts to breaking the under-20 200 metres world record for the second time on day 10 at the Tokyo Olympics

Namibia's Christine Mboma reached Tuesday's final by breaking the under-20 world record for the second time in one day as she finished second in her semi-final of the women's 200m behind Jamaica's defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah.

Mboma became the first under-20 athlete to run under 22 seconds as she lowered her own record to 21.97 seconds.

The Gambia's Gina Bass' time of 22.67 in fourth place in the same semi-final was not fast enough for her to progress as a fastest loser.

Moments earlier Namibia's Beatrice Masilingi set her second personal best of the day as she finished second behind the former Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica in her semi-final, as both qualified automatically for the final.

Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast won the third semi-final to join the two Namibians in the final.

Nigeria's Grace Nzubechi Nwokocha finished fourth in a new personal best and Niger's Aminatou Seyni set a new national record in fifth in the last semi-final but neither was quick enough to progress.

South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk will not be able to defend his Olympic title after he failed to reach the final of the men's 400 metres after he finished fourth in his semi-final.

Van Niekerk has been struggling with injury since he set a world record as he won the 400m gold in Rio in 2016.

Botswana's Isaac Makwala finished third in the same race just ahead of van Niekerk and his time of 44.49 seconds was enough for him to progress to Thursday's final.

Makwala's compatriot Leunog Scotch finished fifth in his semi-final and did not reach the final either.

South Africa's Wanda Nel failed to reach the final of the women's 400m hurdles as she could only finish seventh in her semi-final.

Athletics morning session

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Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon qualified fastest for the semi-finals of the women's 1500m heats at the Tokyo Olympics

Mboma had broken the under-20 world and Olympic record for the first time earlier on Monday in her heat of the women's 200m.

The 18-year-old's time of 22.11 seconds eclipsed the time set by the USA's six-time Olympic champion Allyson Felix, as she won silver at the Athens Games in 2004.

Her compatriot Beatrice Masilingi also set a personal best to progress to the semi-finals, along with Ivory Coast's Marie-Josee Ta Lou, Niger's Aminatou Seyni, The Gambia's Gina Bass and Nigeria's Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha.

Both Mboma and Masilingi were informed in July by World Athletics that their testosterone levels were beyond the allowed limit for female athletes wanting to run their preferred distance of 400m unless they medically lower their testosterone for a period of at least six months

Nigeria's Tobi Amusan became the third African to finish just outside the medals in a sprint event in Tokyo as she finished fourth in the women's 100m hurdles final. The race was won by Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.

Ivory Coast's Ta Lou and South Africa's Akani Simbine both finished just outside the medals in the women's and men's 100m finals respectively.

In the women's 1500m reigning Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon started her title defence by sailing through to Wednesday's semi-finals with a comfortable win in her heat.

"It was hot today and at least I made it to semi-finals. We used a lot of ice because it was hot and we had to stay in normal temperatures, going to the track it was better it was not like we were warming up," she said after her race.

Uganda's Winnie Nanyondo finished second behind Kipyegon to progress along with two more Kenyans - Winny Chebet and Edinah Jebito - as well as Ethiopia's Lemlem Hailu and Freweyni Gebreezibeher.

Jebito was awarded a place in the semi-finals despite finishing 12th in her heat after she fell alongside Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan, who managed to recover and win the heat.

In the men's hammer Egypt's Mostafa Elgamel failed to progress to the final after a managed a throw of 72.76m.

Wrestling

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Nigerian wrestler Blessing Oborududu reacts to the reaching the final at the Tokyo Olympics

Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu beat Mongolia's Battsetseg Soronzonbold in the semi-finals of the women's 68kg freestyle event to secure at least a silver medal, the first for her country at the Tokyo Games.

She will face Tamyra Marianna Stock Mensah in Tuesday's final to decide who wins gold. It will also be Nigeria's first ever Olympic wrestling medal.

"Words cannot explain how happy I am. I feel so excited to get into the final of the Olympics. It's not easy," Oborududu said after her bout.

"We have been working for the past years with the president (of the Nigerian Wrestling Federation) Daniel Igali.

"He's a world and an Olympic champion (for Canada) and he said his purpose of coming back to Nigeria is to change Nigerian wrestling and see (Nigerian) athletes winning in the world championship and the Olympics."

Basketball

Nigeria women's campaign came to an end with a third straight defeat, this time losing 102-83 to hosts Japan.

The Nigerians, who also lost to the USA and France, finish bottom of Group B.

Diving

Egypt's Mohab Ishak qualified for Tuesday's semi-final of the men's 3 metre springboard event, where 12 of the 18 semi-finalists will compete in the final later on the same day.

Handball

Angola's women earned a 31-31 draw with South Korea in their final Group A game but it was not enough for them to progress to the quarter-finals.

Water Polo

South Africa's men lost once again in their final Group A game with hosts Japan winning 24-9.

It leaves the South Africans bottom of the group without a single point and a goal difference of -96 over their five matches.

Volleyball

Kenya women's Pool A campaign in Tokyo ended with fifth straight 3-0 loss this time at the hands of the Brazilians - 25-10, 25-16, 25-8.

The Kenyans finish bottom of the pool without a single point and will not advance to the quarter-finals.

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