Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase explained

Event:	Men's 3000 metres steeplechase
Games:	2000 Summer
Venue:	Stadium Australia
Date:	27 September 2000 (heats) 29 September 2000 (final)
Competitors:	40
Nations:	29
Win Value:	8:21.43
Longnames:	yes
Gold:	Reuben Kosgei
Goldnoc:	KEN
Silver:	Wilson Boit Kipketer
Silvernoc:	KEN
Bronze:	Ali Ezzine
Bronzenoc:	MAR
Prev:	1996
Next:	2004

The Men's 3000 metres Steeplechase at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics programme were held at Stadium Australia on Wednesday 27 September and Friday 29 September 2000.^[1] The winning margin was 0.34 seconds.

The top four runners in each of the initial three heats automatically qualified for the final. The next three fastest runners from across the heats also qualified.

Over the previous couple of months, the two Moroccan runners Ali Ezzine and Brahim Boulami had proven they could run with the Kenyans in sub-8:04 races. That still was not in the range of the capability of World Record holder Bernard Barmasai or previous record holder Wilson Boit Kipketer. But the Kenyans did not assert the same dominance they had displayed in the previous three Olympics.

Less than 100 metres into the race, Damian Kallabis fell over the first barrier. A loud sound went off in the stadium as if the race had been recalled, but none of the runners stopped and Kallabis rushed to catch up with the back of the pack. The third Kenyan was Reuben Kosgei, who had won the Athletics Kenya World Championship Trials, not world #2 Moses Kiptanui. The Kenyan trio, took their position at the point of the pack, but Ezzine made it clear he was going to run with them, taking the lead a lap and a half into the race. The Kenyans immediately stopped fighting to keep the lead, Luis Miguel Martin, Ezzine and Simon Vroemen took their turns at the front. After another lap and a half, Kosgei and Kipketer had had enough and moved back into the lead, taking Günther Weidlinger in their move to the front, with Barmasai, Boulami and Eliseo Martin at the back of the group of leaders. With a lap and a half to go, Eliseo Martin went around the pack to challenge Kosgei for the lead. Kosgei sped up just enough to discourage him. Then the Kenyan trio made the push to the front, just past a lap to go, all three were at the front, but Ezzine was right there with them. On the backstretch, Luis Miguel Martin made a rush to the front, again Kosgei wouldn't let him go by. Over the water jump, with all Kenyans taking it as conservatively as the rest of the field Kosgei and Martin arrived at the head of the straightaway almost together, with Kipketer and Barmasai right behind them. When the sprinting started, Martin could not go with them. Kipketer went around the outside, past Martin and into the lead over the last barrier. Kipketer had the advantage shoulder to shoulder with Kosgei, the two collided, Kipketer losing his balance and flailing as Kosgei took the lead back.sprinting to the finish. Kipketer struggled to cross the line in second, while Barmasai was falling further behind, passed by a sprinting Ezzine just before the line.

Records

World and Olympic records prior to the Games
World Record	7:55.72	Bernard Barmasai	Kenya	Cologne, Germany	24 August 1997
Olympic Record	8:05.51	Julius Kariuki	Kenya	Seoul, South Korea	30 September 1988

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

Q denotes qualification by place in heat.
q denotes qualification by overall place.
DNS denotes did not start.
DNF denotes did not finish.
DQ denotes disqualification.
NR denotes national record.
AR denotes area/continental record.
OR denotes Olympic record.
WR denotes world record.
PB denotes personal best.
SB denotes season best.

Qualifying heats

Heat 1 of 3 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000
Place		Athlete	Nation	Lane/Order	Time	Qual.	Record
Heat	Overall	Athlete	Nation	Lane/Order	Time	Qual.	Record
1	5	Reuben Kosgei		4	8:23.17	Q
2	7	Ali Ezzine		5	8:23.79	Q
3	10	Günther Weidlinger		12	8:24.07	Q
4	13	Eliseo Martin		6	8:24.97	Q
5	16	Mark Croghan		11	8:25.88
6	22	Bouabdellah Tahri		13	8:34.69
7	25	Maru Daba		7	8:35.34
8	27	Florin Ionescu		3	8:37.44
9	29	Serhiy Redko		1	8:40.51
10	32	Christian Stephenson		8	8:46.66
11	35	Mourad Benslimani		2	8:59.07
12	36	Chris Unthank		9	9:11.19
13	39	Primo Higa		10	9:44.12

Heat 2 of 3 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000
Place		Athlete	Nation	Lane/Order	Time	Qual.	Record
Heat	Overall	Athlete	Nation	Lane/Order	Time	Qual.	Record
1	4	Bernard Barmasai		6	8:23.08	Q
2	6	Jim Svenøy		8	8:23.61	Q	SB
3	8	Khamis Abdullah Saifeldin		11	8:23.94	Q
4	9	Luis Miguel Martin		3	8:24.04	Q
5	12	Damian Kallabis		4	8:24.48	q
6	14	Gael Pencreach		13	8:25.35	q
7	17	Joël Bourgeois		1	8:28.07
8	20	Christian Belz		3	8:33.45
9	21	Rafal Wojcik		9	8:33.51
10	24	Anthony Cosey		10	8:35.25
11	31	El Arbi Khattabi		7	8:43.46
12	38	Giorgios Giannelis		5	9:19.14
		Stathis Stasi		2	DNF

Heat 3 of 3 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000
Place		Athlete	Nation	Lane/Order	Time	Qual.	Record
Heat	Overall	Athlete	Nation	Lane/Order	Time	Qual.	Record
1	1	Laid Bessou		1	8:21.14	Q
2	2	Wilson Boit Kipketer		5	8:22.07	Q
3	3	Simon Vroemen		9	8:22.13	Q
4	11	Brahim Boulami		6	8:24.43	Q
5	15	Manuel Silva		14	8:25.70	q
6	18	Pascal Dobert		3	8:29.52
7	19	Justin Chaston		4	8:31.01
8	23	Lotfi Turki		12	8:34.84
9	26	Salvador Miranda		8	8:35.79
10	28	Marco Cepeda		2	8:40.01
11	30	Iaroslav Musinschi		7	8:42.04
12	33	Giuseppe Maffei		13	8:48.88
13	34	Vladimir Pronin		11	8:57.69
14	37	Eduardo Buenavista		10	9:13.71

Overall Results Round 1

Semi-Finals Overall Results
Place	Athlete	Nation	Heat	Lane/Order	Place	Time	Qual.	Record
1	Laid Bessou		3	1	1	8:21.14	Q
2	Wilson Boit Kipketer		3	5	2	8:22.07	Q
3	Simon Vroemen		3	9	3	8:22.13	Q
4	Bernard Barmasai		2	6	1	8:23.08	Q
5	Reuben Kosgei		1	4	1	8:23.17	Q
6	Jim Svenøy		2	8	2	8:23:61	Q	SB
7	Ali Ezzine		1	5	2	8:23.79	Q
8	Khamis Abdullah Saifeldin		2	11	2	8:23.94	Q
9			2	3	4	8:24.04	Q
10	Günther Weidlinger		1	12	3	8:24.07	Q
11	Brahim Boulami		3	6	4	8:24.43	Q
12	Damian Kallabis		2	4	5	8:24.48	Q
13	Eliseo Martin		1	6	4	8:24.97	Q
14	Gael Pencreach		2	13	6	8:25.35	q
15	Manuel Silva		3	14	15	8:25.70	q
16	Mark Croghan		1	11	5	8:25.88
17	Joël Bourgeois		2	1	7	8:28.07
18	Pascal Dobert		3	3	6	8:29.52
19	Justin Chaston		3	4	7	8:31.01
20	Christian Belz		2	12	8	8:33.45
21	Rafal Wojcik		2	9	9	8:33.51
22	Bouabdellah Tahri		1	13	6	8:34.69
23	Lotfi Turki		3	12	8	8:34.84
24	Anthony Cosey		2	10	10	8:35.25
25	Maru Daba		1	7	7	8:35.34
26	Salvador Miranda		3	8	9	8:35.79
27	Florin Ionescu		1	3	8	8:37.44
28	Marco Cepeda		3	2	10	8:40.01
29	Sergiy Redko		1	1	9	8:40.51
30	Iaroslav Musinschi		3	7	11	8:42.04
31	El Arbi Khattabi		2	7	11	8:43.46
32	Christian Stephenson		1	8	10	8:46.66
33	Giuseppe Maffei		3	13	12	8:48.88
34	Vladimir Pronin		3	11	13	8:57.69
35	Mourad Benslimani		1	2	11	8:59.07
36	Chris Unthank		1	9	12	9:11.19
37	Eduardo Buenavista		3	10	14	9:13.71
38	Giorgios Giannelis		2	5	12	9:19.14
39	Primo Higa		1	10	13	9:44.12
	Stathis Stasi		2	2		DNF

Finals

Finals Overall Results
Place	Athlete	Nation	Lane/Order	Time	Record
	Reuben Kosgei		15	8:21.43
	Wilson Boit Kipketer		14	8:21.77
	Ali Ezzine		13	8:22.15
4	Bernard Barmasai		11	8:22.23
5			12	8:22.75
6	Eliseo Martin		1	8:23:00
7	Brahim Boulami		1	8:24.32
8	Günther Weidlinger		3	8:26.70
9	Jim Svenøy		7	8:27.20
10	Khamis Abdullah Saifeldin		6	8:30.89
11	Laid Bessou		8	8:33.07
12	Simon Vroemen		9	8:37.87
13	Manuel Silva		2	8:38.63
14	Gael Pencreach		5	8:41.19
15	Damian Kallabis		10	9:09.78

External links

Official Report of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics

Notes and References

Web site: Athletics at the 2000 Sydney: Men's 3,000 metres Steeplechase . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174446/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/2000/ATH/mens-3000-metres-steeplechase.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 26 November 2017 . Sports Reference.