Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase explained

Event:Men's 3000 metres steeplechase
Games:2020 Summer
Venue:Japan National Stadium
Dates:30 July 2021 (round 1)
2 August 2021 (final)
Competitors:44
Nations:22
Win Value:8:08.90
Gold:Soufiane El Bakkali
Goldnoc:MAR
Silver:Lamecha Girma
Silvernoc:ETH
Bronze:Benjamin Kigen
Bronzenoc:KEN
Prev:2016
Next:2024

The men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.[1] 45 athletes competed.[2]

Summary

Kenya had won this event every time it participated in the Olympics since 1968, 11 times, 9 times in a row after boycotting 1976 and 1980. That symbol of national pride placed a giant target on their back from every other country trying to win this event. 2021 looked like a good chance for Kenya's neighbor and distance running rival, Ethiopia, Lamecha Girma holding the number one and three of the top 5 times in the world coming into the Olympics.

15 men qualified through a tough round of heats. On home soil, Ryuji Miura set the Japanese National Record. A slow third heat left, among others, one Kenyan and one Ethiopian runner to watch the final from the stands.

True to form in most championships, the final started slowly with Ethiopians Girma and Getnet Wale controlling the pace from the front. About 1K in, Miura injected a little more speed, but the Ethiopians went back to the point, marked by the Kenyan duo of Abraham Kibiwott and Benjamin Kigen along with Kenyan born American Benard Keter. As they approached 3 laps to go, Girma made an effort to speed up the race, the field stringing out behind them, with only the two Ethiopians, the two Kenyans breaking away with Soufiane El Bakkali going on the back of the leaders for the ride. Through the penultimate lap, both Kenyans showed signs of weakness, losing contact on the remaining three at the bell. Duplicating the strategy of Ezekiel Kemboi, El Bakkali accelerated over the first barrier of the backstretch. Wale struggled to keep up and Kigen sprinting to regain contact as his country's last hope. Entering the final turn, El Bakkali caught Girma. With both athletes taking the water jump cleanly, behind them as Kigen was catching Wale, his lead foot caught Wale's back kick and Wale was down. Kigen quickly regained his balance while Wale lost all momentum and his chance at a medal. After gaining the advantage, El Bakkali sprinted away from Girma to take the gold with Kigen getting the bronze.[3] El Bakkali’s gold medal was the first Olympic or Worlds gold in 34 years—going back to the 1987 World Championships in Athletics—to be won by a non-Kenyan-born athlete.

Background

This was the 24th appearance of the event, having appeared at every Olympics since 1920.

Qualification

See main article: Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification.

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 8:22.00. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 45 is reached.[2] [4]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.[2] [5]

NOCs cannot use their universality place in the 3000 metres steeplechase.[2]

Competition format

The event continued to use the two-round format introduced in 2012.[6]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing global and area records were as follows.

AreaTime (s)AthleteNation
7:53.64
7:53.63
8:00.09
8:00.45
8:14.05
8:14.41

The following national records were established during the competition:

Country Athlete Round Time Notes
align=left Japan align=left Heats 8:09.92
align=left India align=left Heats 8:18.12

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The men's 3000 metres steeplechase took place over two separate days.[1]

DateTimeRound
Friday, 30 July 2021 9:00 Round 1
Monday, 2 August 2021 19:00Final

Results

Heats

Note: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advance to the Final.

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
18:09.83
2Ryuji Miura8:09.92,
38:10.80,
48:14.06,
58:15.91
68:16.99,
78:20.23(.223)
88:20.23(.226)
9Albert Chemutai8:29.81
10Vidar Johansson8:32.86
11Karl Bebendorf8:33.27
12Carlos San Martín8:33.47
13Phil Norman8:46.57
--

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
18:12.25
28:12.55
38:12.71
48:13.56,
58:14.63,
6Benard Keter8:17.31,
78:18.12
88:23.07
98:24.82
108:28.63
118:29.90
128:36.35
138:39.57
148:43.29
158:44.75

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 8:19.00
2 8:19.17 ,
3 8:19.36
4 8:19:51
5 8:19:62
6 8:19:80
7 8:20:95
8 8:24:08
9 8:24:69
10 8:29:17
11 8:29.84
12 8:31:27
13 8:38:09
14 8:42:37

Final

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
8:08.90
8:10.38
8:11.45
4 8:14.97
5 8:15.34
6 8:16.03
7 Ryuji Miura8:16.90
8 8:17.44
9 8:18.50
10 8:19.41
11 Benard Keter8:22.12
12 8:23.14
13 8:23.56
14 8:24.34
15 8:35.41

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Athletics Competition Schedule . Tokyo 2020 . 22 June 2021 . 9 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210709200259/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/schedule/athletics-schedule . live .
  2. News: Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics. IAAF. 31 March 2019. 31 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190331115642/https://www.atleticalive.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Olympic-Games-Tokyo-2020-qualification-system.pdf. live.
  3. Web site: Morocco's el Bakkali gets steeplechase gold as Kenyan streak ends . . 3 August 2021 . 3 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210803061956/https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/moroccos-el-bakkali-gets-steeplechase-gold-as-kenyan-streak-ends/ar-AAMRzGz . live .
  4. News: IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes. BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. 2 August 2018. 15 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180315005932/http://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/43259616. live.
  5. News: Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020. World Athletics. 6 April 2020. 9 April 2020. 9 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200409184416/https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/olympic-qualification-suspended-2020. live.
  6. News: Athletics Explanatory Guide . Tokyo 2020 . August 2019 . 22 June 2021 . 24 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203848/https://cdn.dosb.de/user_upload/Olympische_Spiele/Tokio_2020/Sport_Explanatory_Guide/Athletics_Sport_Explanatory_Guide_Olympic.pdf . live .