1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's 3000 metres explained

The men's 3000 metres event at the 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships was held on 7–9 March 1997.

The winning margin was a decisive 4.13 seconds which as of July 2024 remains the only time the men's 3,000 metres was won by more than three seconds at these championships.

Medalists

width=200 bgcolor=gold	Gold	width=200 bgcolor=silver	Silver	width=200 bgcolor=CC9966	Bronze
Haile Gebrselassie	Paul Bitok	Ismaïl Sghyr

Results

Heats

First 4 of each heat (Q) and next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the final.^[1]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2			7:50.14	Q
2	2			7:50.42	Q
3	2			7:51.53	Q
4	2			7:51.69	Q
5	2			7:52.55	q, PB
6	2			7:52.60	q
7	1			7:52.72	Q
8	2			7:52.95	q, SB
9	1			7:52.98	Q
10	2			7:53.99	q
11	1			7:53.24	Q
12	1			7:53.53	Q
13	1			7:54.01
14	2			7:54.07
15	1			7:54.72
16	1			7:54.79	PB
17	1			7:56.30	PB
18	2			7:56.75
19	1			7:57.00
20	2			8:00.64
21	1			8:02.47
22	2			8:04.29
23	1			8:05.49
24	2			8:05.55
25	1			8:06.58
26	1			8:18.28
27	2			8:20.37

Final

^[2]

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
			7:34.71	CR
			7:38.84
			7:40.01
			7:41.05	NR
			7:41.87
			7:44.31
			7:49.47
			7:50.54
			7:52.55	SB
10			7:56.38
11			7:58.57
12			8:10.49

Notes and References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20120819043518/http://www2.iaaf.org/wic97/results/m/3000/rr1.html Heats results
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20120819043554/http://www2.iaaf.org/wic97/results/m/3000/rf.html Final results