Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

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Men's 3000 metres steeplechase
at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Sgt. Hillary Bor runs 3,000-meter steeplechase at Rio Olympic Games photos by Tim Hipps, U.S. Army IMCOM Public Affairs (28945469872).jpg
The water jump during the Men's 3000m steeplechase
Venue Olympic Stadium
Dates15 August 2016 (heats)
17 August 2016 (final)
Competitors45 from 25 nations
Winning time8:03.28 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Conseslus Kipruto Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Silver medal icon.svg Evan Jager Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad Flag of France.svg  France
  2012
2020  

The men's 3000 metres steeplechase competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held at the Olympic Stadium between 15–17 August.

Summary

Continuing the country's unbeaten tradition in the Olympic steeplechase since 1968, the principal challengers to the gold medal came from the Kenyan team. Ezekiel Kemboi returned to defend his 2012 Olympic title and had won almost every global final since 2003. His sole loss came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to another member of the team Brimin Kipruto. The third Kenyan was Conseslus Kipruto, who was the 2015 World Championships runner-up and held the top three times that season, having won all of the 2016 IAAF Diamond League meets. The next highest ranked entrant at sixth was Bahrain's John Kibet Koech (himself a former Kenyan). The 2012 Olympic runner-up Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad was also present. [1] [2]

In the past Kemboi has sported the frohawk, but at the start line for the final, the 34-year-old man was sporting the reverse mohawk. His prince in training, Conseslus Kipruto has watched his act from behind in the previous two world championships as had many other men in this field. Conseslus made it clear from the gun that this was not going to be a strategic race, rushing to the lead. Returning silver medalist Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad immediately moved to cover the lead, while Evan Jager ran around the outside of the pack to join them at the front 200 metres into the race. By the first barrier, the race was already a string, rather than a pack. Over the next lap, Conseslus pressed the pace, with only Jager following. A gap opened back to the string of chasers, with Kemboi in the middle of the field. Through the next lap Jacob Araptany and Yemane Haileselassie trying to bridge the gap to Jager but also battling each other for the third position. 2008 gold medalist Brimin Kipruto moved up to join the challenge for third with Kemboi gliding along the inside to join the back of the leaders. The gap was disappearing. Suddenly at the last barrier before the end of the third lap, Araptany didn't appear to be prepared for the barrier, he just went down sliding under the barrier, his chin taking a knockout blow from the barrier with an audible crash. Following the next water jump, Jager moved past Conseslus, the pair tracked by Kemboi, Kenyan ex-pat Hillary Bor and Brimin. With Jager now pushing the pace, the gap again began to form, with just Conseslus and Kemboi in the lead group.

Prefaced by the 2015 Steeplechase at Paris, Jager had learned he could beat the Kenyans by pushing the pace early. Here he was attempting to do just that. After another lap and a half of this, the gap grew back to fourth place Bor, with Brimin falling back and Mekhissi-Benabbad at the tail of the second group. With less than two laps to go Amor Ben Yahia in the middle of the second group fell over the barrier, leaving Soufiane El Bakkali, Brimin, Bor, Mekhissi-Benabbad and Yoann Kowal the remaining string of chasers. Jager held the lead to just before the bell. Over the penultimate water jump, Kemboi moved into the marking position, but after the following barrier, Conseslus gathered himself and sprinted by both. Kemboi chased Conseslus to the barrier before the backstretch, to be in the perfect position to launch his patented surge. But the surge was not there for Kemboi, instead it was Conseslus who made the surge down the backstretch. By the final water jump, the gap was insurmountable and Conseslus knew it. He began waving to the crowd. Conseslus ran the final straight, arms outstretched celebrating his victory (as Kemboi had done before him). Behind him, Jager was not done, executing his final kick around the beaten Kemboi on the home stretch and pulling away to the silver medal. Kemboi jogged across the finish line in third. Well behind, Mekhissi-Benabbad used the same kind of final lap that had brought him to two previous silver medals to beat the group of chasers to the line in fourth. [3]

After the race was over, the French team filed a protest, claiming Kemboi had stepped off the track following the first water jump. Video was reviewed of the race and the foul was detected, causing Kemboi to be disqualified, advancing Mekhissi-Benabbad to the bronze medal.[ citation needed ] That also made Mekhissi-Benabbad and not Kemboi, the first man to win three Olympic medals in the steeplechase. This was Kenya's ninth straight and eleventh overall gold medal in the steeplechase. Jager was the first American to win a medal in the steeplechase since Brian Diemer in 1984.

After dominating the event, with two Olympic gold medals, four World Championship gold medals (and three silvers before that), Ezekiel Kemboi announced his retirement after the race, only to retract it and compete for one more year after realizing that he was disqualified.

The medals for the competition were presented by Aïcha Garad Ali, Djibouti, member of the International Olympic Committee, and the gifts were presented by Bernard Amsalem, Council Member of the IAAF.

Competition format

The men's 3000 m steeplechase competition consists of a heats stage (three races) and a final. [4]

Schedule

All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)

DateTimeRound
Monday, 15 August 201610:25Heats
Wednesday, 17 August 201611:50Finals

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of Qatar.svg  Saif Saaeed Shaheen  (QAT)7:53.63 Brussels, Belgium 3 September 2004
Olympic recordFlag of Kenya.svg  Julius Kariuki  (KEN)8:05.51 Seoul, South Korea 30 September 1988
2016 World leadingFlag of Kenya.svg  Conseslus Kipruto  (KEN)8:00.12 Birmingham, United Kingdom5 June 2016

The following records were established during the competition:

DateEventNameNationalityDistanceRecord
17 AugustFinal Conseslus Kipruto Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 8:03.28 OR

Results

Heats

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1 Hillary Bor Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:25.01 Q
2 Soufiane El Bakkali Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 8:25.17 Q
3 Ezekiel Kemboi Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 8:25.51 Q
4 Matthew Hughes Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8:26.27 q
5 Sebastian Martos Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 8:28.44
6 Benjamin Kiplagat Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 8:30.76
7 Halil Akkas Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 8:33.12 SB
8 Hailemariyam Amare Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 8:35.01
9 Nelson Cherutich Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain 8:35.87
10 Yuri Floriani Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8:40.80
11 Kazuya Shiojiri Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 8:40.98
12 Rob Mullett Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 8:48.19
13 Jeroen D'hoedt Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 8:48.29
14 Mitko Tsenov Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 8:54.79
Ali Messaoudi Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria DQ R163.3b

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1 Evan Jager Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:25.86 Q
2 Brimin Kipruto Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 8:26.25 Q
3 Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad Flag of France.svg  France 8:26.32 Q
4 Yemane Haileselassie Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea 8:26.72 q
5 Hamid Ezzine Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 8:27.69 q
6 John Kibet Koech Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain 8:28.81
7 Chala Beyo Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 8:32.06
8 Aras Kaya Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 8:32.35
9 José Peña Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 8:32.38
10 Chris Winter Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8:33.95
11 Bilal Tabti Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 8:38.87
12 Abdoullah Bamoussa Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8:42.81
13 Kaur Kivistik Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 8:44.25
14 Abdalla Targan Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 8:52.20
15 Abdelaziz Merzougui Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 9:03.40

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1 Conseslus Kipruto Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 8:21.40 Q
2 Jacob Araptany Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 8:21.53 Q
3 Donald Cabral Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:21.96 Q
4 Amor Ben Yahia Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 8:23.12 q
5 Yoann Kowal Flag of France.svg  France 8:23.49 q
6 Altobeli da Silva Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 8:26.59 q
7 Hicham Sigueni Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 8:27.82
8 Hicham Bouchicha Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 8:33.61
9 Taylor Milne Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8:34.38
10 Krystian Zalewski Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 8:34.52
11 Ole Hesselbjerg Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 8:40.08
12 Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti 8:53.10
13 Fernando Carro Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 8:53.17
Tafese Seboka Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia DQ R163.3b
Tarik Langat Akdag Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey DNF

Final

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Conseslus Kipruto Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 8:03.28 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Evan Jager Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:04.28 SB
Bronze medal icon.svg Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad Flag of France.svg  France 8:11.52 SB
4 Soufiane El Bakkali Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 8:14.35 PB
5 Yoann Kowal Flag of France.svg  France 8:16.75 SB
6 Brimin Kipruto Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 8:18.79 SB
7 Hillary Bor Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:22.74 PB
8 Donald Cabral Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:25.81
9 Altobeli da Silva Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 8:26.30 PB
10 Matthew Hughes Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8:36.83
11 Yemane Haileselassie Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea 8:40.68
Jacob Araptany Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda DNF
Hamid Ezzine Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco DNF
Amor Ben Yahia Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia DQ R163.3b
Ezekiel Kemboi Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya DQ R163.3b[ citation needed ]

References

  1. Morse, Parker (2016-08-09). Preview: men's 3000m steeplechase – Rio 2016 Olympic Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-14.
  2. senior outdoor 2016 3000 Metres Steeplechase men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-14.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Men's 3000m Steeplechase - Standings Archived 21 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine . Rio2016. Retrieved on 14 August 2016.