The Men's 3,000 m Steeplechase

Steeplechase (athletics)

The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics, which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing.-Rules:The length of the race is usually 3000 m; junior events are 2000 m, as women's events formerly were. The circuit has four ordinary barriers and one water jump. Over 3000 m, each...

was one of two male-exclusive events out of the 23 track events of the 2004 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the athletics events were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 18 to August 29, except for the marathons , the race walks , and the shot put...

, in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. It was contested at the Athens Olympic Stadium, from August 21 to August 24, by a total of 41 athletes from 27 nations.

The athletes competed in a three-heat qualifying round in which the first three runners from each heat, together with the six fastest losing runners, were given a place in the final race.

Qualification

The Olympic qualification period for the athletics ran from January 1, 2003 to August 9, 2004. For this event, each National Olympic Committee

National Olympic Committee

National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, they are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games...

 (NOC) was permitted to enter up to three athletes, provided they had run below 8:24.60 minutes during this period in IAAF

International Association of Athletics Federations

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...

-sanctioned meetings or tournaments. If a NOC had no athletes qualified under this standard, it could enter up to one athlete that had run below 8:32.00 minutes.

Medalists

Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics.

World Record	7:53.63	Saif Saaeed Shaheen Saif Saaeed Shaheen Saif Saaeed Shaheen formerly Stephen Cherono is a steeplechase runner now representing Qatar. He currently holds the world record for 3000 metre steeplechase. His older brother Abraham Cherono is also a steeplechase runner.He was the 1999 World Youth Champion in the steeplechase and set a world...	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...  (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	3 September 2004
Olympic Record	8:05.52		Seoul Seoul Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...  (KOR Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... )	30 September 1988

Results

All times are shown in minutes. The following abbreviations are used:

• Q denotes qualification by place
• q denotes qualification by time
• DNS denotes "did not start"
• DNF denotes "did not finish"
• NR denotes "national record"
• PB denotes "personal best"
• SB denotes "season best"
• DQ denotes "disqualified"

Qualifying round

The qualifying round was held on August 21. The first three runners from each heat, together with the six fastest losing runners, were given a place in the final race.

Heat	Athlete	Nation	Time	Rank
1			8:17.89	SB	4	Q
1			8:18.20		5	Q
1			8:18.98		6	Q
1			8:19.62		8	q
1			8:20.18		10	q
1			8:21.88		11	q
1			8:22.16	SB	12	q
1			8:26.01		19
1			8:26.17	NR	20
1			8:37.29		31
1			8:52.65		37
1
1
1
2			8:15.11		1	Q
2			8:15.28	SB	2	Q
2			8:16.90		3	Q
2			8:19.37		7	q
2			8:20.13		9	q
2			8:23.72		13
2			8:24.19		16
2			8:24.84	PB	18
2			8:29.36		25
2			8:33.15		27
2			8:36.12		30
2			8:38.01		32
2			8:46.17		34
2			8:48.65	NR	35
3			8:23.94		14	Q
3			8:24.13		15	Q
3			8:24.68		17	Q
3			8:27.55		21
3			8:28.35		22
3			8:29.07		23
3			8:29.14		24
3			8:31.59		26
3			8:33.62		28
3			8:33.97		29
3			8:38.31		33
3			8:50.73		36
3			8:56.24		37

Final

The final was held on August 24.

Rank	Athlete	Time
		8:05.81	SB
		8:06.11
		8:06.64
4		8:07.18	PB
5		8:11.64	SB
6		8:13.25	SB
7		8:14.26	SB
8		8:15.58
9		8:15.77	SB
10		8:16.15	SB
11		8:16.86
12		8:17.32	PB
13		8:18.05	PB
14		8:22.63
15		8:36.66