Brimin Kipruto is a Kenyan professional middle distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was born in Korkitony, Keiyo District. He holds a personal best of 7:53.64 minutes which is the second fastest time ever run, and the African Record. His personal best is only 0.01 of a second behind the world record of former country mate Saif Saaeed Shaheen, who switched national affiliation to Qatar after growing up as Stephen Cherono in the Keiyo District.
Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad is a retired French professional middle-distance runner of Algerian descent who mainly competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He is the only man to win three Olympic steeplechase medals, claiming silver in 2008 and 2012 and bronze in 2016. He also won two bronze medals at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 2011 and 2013. Mekhissi-Benabbad earned titles at five consecutive editions of the European Athletics Championships between 2010 and 2018.
Milcah Chemos Cheywa is a runner from Kenya who specialises in 3000 metres steeplechase. She was, until 2015, African record holder at the distance and is the gold medalist of the 2013 World Championships in Athletics.
Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal is a Norwegian middle-, long-distance and steeplechase runner. She is a European Championships gold medallist in half marathon, silver medallist in 5000 metres and bronze medallist in 10,000 metres and 3000 metres steeplechase. Grøvdal is a four-time Olympian and represented Norway at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.
Conseslus Kipruto is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was the 2016 Rio Olympic champion in the event. At the World Athletics Championships, Kipruto won gold medals in 2017 and 2019, silver medals in 2013 and 2015, and a bronze in 2022. In 2018, he captured gold medals at the African Championships and Commonwealth Games. He is a four-time Diamond League winner.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world-leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second of three women to complete an Olympic distance double. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hassan secured a bronze medal in both the women's 5,000 m and 10,000 m events and gold in the women's marathon, becoming the only woman to win the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and Marathon races.
Jonathan Muia Ndiku is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He has a personal best of 8:07.75 minutes. He was the gold medallist in the event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where he broke the Commonwealth Games record.
Norah Jeruto Tanui is a Kazakhstani long-distance runner specialising in the steeplechase. She won the gold medal in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the first athlete representing Kazakhstan to win a title at the World Athletics Championships and setting a championship record in the process. Jeruto took gold in the event at the 2016 African Championships in Athletics.
Courtney Frerichs is an American middle-distance runner and steeplechase specialist from Nixa, Missouri, She is a three-time silver medalist in the 3000 meters steeplechase capturing silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the 2017 World Championships in London and at the 2018 World (Continental) Cup in Ostrava. In 2021, she became the first American woman to run under nine-minutes in a women’s 3000-meters steeplechase event with a time of 8:57.77; establishing an American and Area record. She is a two-time Olympian making the US team in 2016 and 2020. In both of her Olympic Trials she finished second to US National Champion, Emma Coburn.
Beatrice Chepkoech Sitonik is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won gold medals at the 2019 World Championships and 2018 African Championships and silver medal at the 2023 World Championships. In the 1500 metres, Chepkoech took silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2015 African Games. She is the world record holder for the 3000 m steeplechase with a time of 8:44.32 set in 2018 in Monaco. With that mark she became the first woman to break the 8:50 and 8:45 barriers in the event.
Soufiane El Bakkali is a Moroccan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He is a two-time Olympic champion, having won gold in the event at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. He has also achieved significant success at the World Athletics Championships, securing back-to-back gold medals in 2022 and 2023. El Bakkali was also the 2022 Diamond League champion in his specialist event and is known for breaking Kenya's decades-long dominance in the steeplechase.
Peruth Chemutai is a Ugandan steeplechase runner. She won the gold medal in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, becoming the first Ugandan woman ever to win an Olympic medal. She added a silver medal in this event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Abraham Kibiwot is a Kenyan steeplechase runner. He won bronze medals in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2024 Summer Olympics, 2023 World Championships, and 2016 African Championships. His personal best is 8:05.51 minutes, set in 2023.
Winfred Mutile Yavi is a Kenyan-born Bahraini female athlete who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Currently the second fastest athlete in history at the distance with a personal best of 8:44.39, she won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, setting a new Olympic record. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Melissa Courtney-Bryant is a British middle- and long-distance runner. She won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and bronze for the 3000 metres at the 2019 and 2023 European Indoor Championships.
Benjamin Kigen is a Kenyan athlete who competes primarily in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Kigen took gold at the 2019 All-Africa Games.
Lamecha Girma is an Ethiopian athlete who specialises in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and won silver medals at the 2019, 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships. Lamecha also won a silver in the 3,000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the world indoor record holder for the 3,000 metres, which was set in February 2023. In June 2023 at the Meeting de Paris of the Diamond League, he broke the world record for the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase.
Faith Cherotich is a Kenyan athlete who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. At the age of 17, she won the bronze medal at the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships held in Nairobi. Cherotich upgraded her bronze to gold a year later, winning the title at the World U20 Championships in Cali.
Sembo Almayew Welteji is an Ethiopian track and field athlete. She was a silver medalist at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in the Women's 3000 metres steeplechase.
Simon Kiprop Koech is a Kenyan track and field athlete. In 2023, he became the Kenyan national champion in the 3000m Steeplechase.
