Gold medal times in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Summer Olympics 1920-2020

The 3,000 meter steeplechase has featured at the Olympic Games as a men's event since 1920, while the women's event was only introduced in 2008. There were other variations of the steeplechase held between 1900 and 1904, ranging from 2,500 meters and 4,000 meters, and the 1932 steeplechase was 3,460 meters in length, due to an officiating error that resulted in the athletes running an extra lap of the track. The current men's Olympic record was set by Kenya's Conseslus in 2016, with a time of 8 minutes and 3.28 seconds, and the women's Olympic record was set by Russia's Gulnara Samitova in 2008, with a time of 8 minutes and 58.81 seconds (where she also became the first woman to complete the race in under nine minutes). The world record for men was set in 2004 by Qatar's Saif Saaeed Shaheen with a time of 7 minutes and 53.63 seconds (Shaheen, born in Kenya but representing Qatar since 2003, never competed at the 2004 Olympics due to a dispute with the Kenyan Athletics Federation, and injuries held him back in later Olympics), the women's world record was set in 2018 by Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech, with a time of 8 minutes and 44.32 seconds.

What is the "steeplechase"?

The steeplechase takes its name from the horse race of the same name, and involves contestants running around a track and jumping over obstacles, similar to the 110m or 400m hurdles. Unlike the hurdles events, the steeplechase is a middle-distance event, and a number of the hurdles are accompanied with a water ditch. Over the course of the Olympic event, athletes complete 7.5 laps of the Olympic track, and must clear 28 normal jumps (four per lap) and seven water jumps (one per lap). The hurdles are 91.4 centimeters in height for men, and 76.2 centimeters for women (both heights are also used for the hurdles in the respective 400m events). Unlike the sprint events, athletes run in a pack and are not confined to individual track; and athletes jump over the same barriers, which have a width of at least 3.94 meters. These barriers are also more stable than those used in the hurdles, and athletes often launch off them to maximize their jump.

Kenya dominates

In the early years, Finland was the most successful nation in the 3,000m steeplechase, winning all four golds between 1924 and 1936. When Kenya's Amos Biwott took the gold in 1968, this marked the beginning of Kenya's dominance in the 3,000m steeplechase. Between 1968 and 2016, but not included the years Kenya boycotted the Games in 1976 and 1980, Kenyan athletes won the gold medal in every men's steeplechase event. 2020 marked the first time in almost four decades where an Kenyan did not take the gold. Keny's total tally is eleven golds, seven silvers and five bronzes, and they swept the podium in 1992 and 2004. In contrast, Kenya has yet to take the gold in the women's event, although the 2016 champion, Ruth Jebet, is originally from Kenya but switched her allegiance to Bahrain in 2013.