Moroccan Olympic and World Champion Soufiane El Bakkali has been named the second-best male athlete of 2023, announced the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA).
In late August in Budapest, El Bakkali was crowned world champion for the second time running.
“El Bakkali maintained his impressive consistency in 2023 and remained unbeaten in the five steeplechase finals he contested,” according to the CAA, adding that this year he improved his personal best over the distance to 7 min 56 sec 68/100è.
The Moroccan champion was eclipsed in this classification by Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum, winner of this year’s Berlin Marathon and current world marathon record holder.
Third place went to Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango (triple jump), who gave his country its first world championship title in Budapest after having earned first Olympic medal two years earlier.
On the women’s side, the Confederation of African Athletics chose Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon as its best athlete of the year. She is a double world champion in the 1,500 meter and 5,000 meter and holds the world records for the 1,500 meter, the mile and the 5,000 meter.
Second place went to Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, world marathon record-holder in 2023, while third place went to her compatriot Gudaf Tsegay, world champion in the 10,000 meter and world record-holder in the 5,000 meter.