These are the official results of the Men's 3000 metres Steeplechase event at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. There were a total number of 35 participating athletes, with two semi-finals and three qualifying heats. Perhaps after watching the slow start four years earlier, this time Kenyans wanted less drama than their casual sweep of 1992. From the gun, Joseph Keter took the lead.

Moses Kiptanui Moses Kiptanui (born 1 October 1970) is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete mostly famous for 3,000 m steeplechase in which he was the number one ranked athlete from 1991 to 1995 and three time IAAF World Champion. Kiptanui was al ...

got a poorer start but simply ran around the outside of the pack and joined Keter from barely 150 metres into the race and that was it. The two never relinquished the lead. Defending champion

Matthew Birir Matthew Kiprotich Birir (born 5 July 1972) is a former athlete from Kenya, winner of 3000 m steeplechase at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Eldama Ravine, Matthew Birir started running, when he attended at the famous St. Patrick's ...

made it a touch more dramatic by being last off the line and took all of an additional 50 metres to join the pack at the front. The closest trailing athletes were the two Italians

Angelo Carosi Angelo Carosi (born 20 January 1964 in Priverno) is an Italian long-distance runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In his later career he also took up half marathon and marathon. Biography He ran four times consecutively in the ...

and

Alessandro Lambruschini Alessandro Lambruschini (born 7 January 1965) is an Italian former long-distance runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase Biography Lambruschini participated at three editions of the Summer Olympics (1988, 1992, 1996), he has 40 ca ...

and Moroccan Brahim Boulami. With three laps to go,

passed Boulami and Carosi to become the only one to challenge the 10 metre lead the Kenyans had built. Little by little over the next lap, Lambruschini was able to bridge the gap, with

Mark Croghan Mark Duane Croghan (born January 8, 1968) is a former track and field athlete, who mainly competed in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase. He is a three-time Olympian and five-time US national champion in the steeplechase (1991, 1994–97). Caree ...

running hard from a few places back to get up to fifth. With two laps to go, Birir started to lose contact with his teammates. Lambruschini passed him and set off in chase of the other two. With just over a lap to go, Keter looked over his shoulder to see who was behind him, it wasn't Birir, all three accelerated. With Kiptanui leading Keter and Lambruschini, the group left Birir and the rest of the field behind. Just before the water jump Keter went wide as both Kenyans hurdled the water. Lambruschini lost a few meters and Keter was sprinting around Kiptanui. Both men sprinted to the final barrier, with Keter taking it first and fastest. He pulled away to victory. 10 metres later Lambruschini crossed the line with a bronze medal reward for improving over finishing fourth the previous two Olympics. 25 metres back, Birir held off the rest of the field.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Final

Semifinals

Heats

References

External links

Official Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 3000 metres steeplechase S Steeplechase at the Olympics Men's events at the 1996 Summer Olympics