Frederik Ruppert runs 7:57.80 in Rabat, the first European steeplechase under eight

Soufiane El Bakkali opened his season on Sunday 31 May at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat, in front of his own crowd, and won the 3000 m steeplechase for the fifth year in a row. His 7:57.25 is the fastest time in the world this year. The story was the man behind him. Frederik Ruppert of Germany pushed El Bakkali the whole way and finished in 7:57.80, a European record and the first time a European has broken eight minutes in the event. Simon Koech of Kenya was third in 7:59.44 and Edmund Serem fourth in 8:01.61: four men inside 8:02 in a race run in late May.

The meeting, the third of the 2026 Diamond League, produced two other marks worth keeping. Joe Kovacs beat Ryan Crouser in the shot put with a world lead of 22.58 m, a meeting record, with Crouser at 21.59 m and Jordan Geist and Roger Steen making it an American top four. Kenny Bednarek won the 200 m in 19.69 with a 0.4 m/s wind, also a meeting record, from the Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, 19.96.

El Bakkali has been the best steeplechaser in the world for most of a decade. For most of that time the gap to the Europeans was measured in seconds. On Sunday it was 0.55.

Sources: World Athletics.