Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco won gold in the Olympic men's 3,000 meters steeplechase on Monday, breaking Kenya's stranglehold on an event they had won nine times in a row.

The 25-year-old El Bakkali, fourth in the 2016 Olympics and bronze medalist in the 2019 world championships, finished in a time of 8:08.90.

Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia claimed silver, clocking 8:10.38, and Benjamin Kigen of Kenya took the bronze in 8:11.45.

Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya, the 2016 Olympic champion, failed to qualify for the Games, reducing the East African nation's chance of winning a 10th straight Olympic steeplechase gold since 1984.