The official world records in the 3000 metres steeplechase are held by Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia at 7:52.11 minutes for men and Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya at 8:44.32 for women.
Although the event had been run for decades and was first contested at the 1920 Olympics, the event was not standardized until 1954, with a requirement for athletes to jump a total of 28 barriers of height 91.1 cm to 91.7 cm, and width 3.66 m (4 hurdle barriers per lap), and jump seven water barriers 3.66 m long and wide with a 91 cm hurdle (1 water barrier per lap). The first 3000 m steeplechase world record to be ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was a run of 8:49.6 minutes by Hungarian Sándor Rozsnyói in 1954. [1]
Before standardization, Sweden's Josef Ternström was the first to complete the event in under ten minutes with his time of 9:49.8 minutes in 1914. When he did it, one of the barriers included a stone wall, and the 500-metre course was a figure-eight. [2] Another Swede, Erik Elmsäter, was the first to dip under nine minutes, in 1944. [3] The first person to run the steeplechase in under eight minutes was Moses Kiptanui of Kenya, who ran it in 7:59.18 on 16 August 1995, in Zürich, Switzerland.
The women's 3000 m steeplechase was recognized as an official world record event as of January 1,2000 [update] , recognizing Yelena Motalova's time of 9:48.88 from 1999 as the inaugural record. [2] It was first contested at a World Championships in Athletics in 2005 and made its Olympic debut in 2008. The first sub-10 minute steeplechase was achieved by Romania's Daniela Petrescu in 1998 with a time of 9:55.28 minutes, but this was before the event was recognized by the IAAF. [4] The first sub-nine minute steeplechase for women was by Gulnara Galkina of Russia in 2008 with a clocking of 8:58.81. [2]
On 16 August 2002, Brahim Boulami of Morocco ran 7:53.17 but the performance was not ratified as a record as Boulami tested positive for EPO, a banned substance. [5]
Ratified | |
Not ratified | |
Ratified but later rescinded | |
Pending ratification |
Time | Auto | Athlete | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
9.49.8 | ![]() | Malmö | 1914-07-04 [6] | |
9.36.0 NWJ | ![]() | Paris | 1923-06-09 [6] | |
9.33.4 NWJ | ![]() | Paris | 1924-06-09 [6] | |
9.31.2 NWJ | ![]() | Marseille | 1925-06-07 [6] | |
9.25.2 | ![]() | Helsinki | 1928-07-09 [6] | |
9.21.8 | ![]() | Amsterdam | 1928-08-04 [6] | |
9.14.5 | ![]() | Stanford | 1932-07-16 [6] | |
9.09.4 | ![]() | Lahti | 1933-05-28 [6] | |
9.08.2 | ![]() | New York City | 1936-07-12 [6] | |
9.03.8 | ![]() | Berlin | 1936-08-08 [6] | |
9.03.4 | ![]() | Ostersund | 1943-08-22 [6] | |
8.59.6 | ![]() | Stockholm | 1944-08-04 [6] | |
8.49.8 | ![]() | Moscow | 1951-07-10 [6] | |
8.48.6 | ![]() | Kiev | 1952-06-12 [6] | |
8.45.4 | ![]() | Helsinki | 1952-07-25 [6] | |
8.44.4 | ![]() | Helsinki | 1953-07-02 [6] | |
8:49.6 | ![]() | Bern | 1954-08-28 | |
8:47.8 | ![]() | Helsinki | 1955-07-01 | |
8:45.4 | ![]() | Oslo | 1955-07-15 | |
8:45.4 | ![]() | Moscow | 1955-08-18 | |
8:41.2 | ![]() | Brno | 1955-08-31 | |
8:40.2 | ![]() | Budapest | 1955-09-11 | |
8:39.8 | ![]() | Moscow | 1956-08-14 | |
8:35.6 | ![]() | Budapest | 1956-09-16 | |
8:35.5 | ![]() | Tallinn | 1958-07-21 | |
8:32.0 | ![]() | Warsaw | 1958-08-02 | |
8:31.4 | ![]() | Tula | 1960-06-26 | |
8:31.2 | ![]() | Kyiv | 1961-05-28 | |
8:30.4 | ![]() | Wałcz | 1961-08-10 | |
8:29.6 | ![]() | Leuven | 1963-09-07 | |
8:26.4 | ![]() | Leuven | 1965-08-07 | |
8:24.2 | ![]() | Stockholm | 1968-07-17 | |
8:22.2 | ![]() | Kyiv | 1969-08-19 | |
8:22.0 | 8:21.98 | ![]() | Berlin | 1970-07-04 |
8:20.8 | ![]() | Helsinki | 1972-09-14 | |
8:20.8 | ![]() | Lagos | 1973-01-15 | |
8:19.8 | ![]() | Helsinki | 1973-06-19 | |
8:14.0 | 8:13.91 | ![]() | Helsinki | 1973-06-27 |
8:10.4 | ![]() | Oslo | 1975-06-25 | |
8:09.8 | 8:09.70 | ![]() | Stockholm | 1975-07-01 |
8:08.0 | 8:08.02 | ![]() | Montreal | 1976-07-28 |
8:05.4 | ![]() | Seattle | 1978-05-13 | |
8:05.35 | ![]() | Stockholm | 1989-07-03 | |
8:02.08 | ![]() | Zürich | 1992-08-19 | |
7:59.18 | ![]() | Zürich | 1995-08-16 | |
7:59.08 | ![]() | Zürich | 1997-08-13 | |
7:55.72 | ![]() | Cologne | 1997-08-24 | |
7:55.28 | ![]() | Brussels | 2001-08-24 | |
7:53.63 | ![]() | Brussels | 2004-09-03 | |
7:52.11 | ![]() | Paris | 2023-06-09 |
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981.
Time | Athlete | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
10:34.5 | ![]() | Walnut | 1996-04-20 |
10:30.2 | ![]() | Los Angeles | 1996-05-17 |
10:23.47 | ![]() | Atlanta | 1996-06-23 |
10:19.6 | ![]() | Walnut | 1998-04-18 |
9:55.28 | ![]() | Bucharest | 1998-06-21 |
9:48.88 | ![]() | Tula | 1999-07-31 |
9:43.64 | ![]() | Bucharest | 2000-08-07 |
9:40.20 | ![]() | Reims | 2000-08-30 |
Time | Athlete | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
9:48.88 | ![]() | Tula | 1999-07-31 |
9:43.64 | ![]() | Bucharest | 2000-08-07 |
9:40.20 | ![]() | Reims | 2000-08-30 |
9:25.31 | ![]() | Nice | 2001-07-09 |
9:22.29 | ![]() | Milan | 2002-06-05 |
9:21.72 | ![]() | Ostrava | 2002-06-12 |
9:16.51 | ![]() | Gdańsk | 2002-07-27 |
9:08.33 | ![]() | Tula | 2003-08-10 |
9:01.59 | ![]() | Iraklio | 2004-07-04 |
8:58.81 | ![]() | Beijing | 2008-08-17 |
8:52.78 | ![]() | Paris | 2016-08-27 |
8:44.32 | ![]() | Monaco | 2018-07-20 |