3000 metres steeplechase world record progression

Former women's record holder Gulnara Samitova-Galkina improved the mark three times.

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.

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. Another Swede, Erik Elmsäter, was the first to dip under nine minutes, in 1944. 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, recognizing Yelena Motalova's time of 9:48.88 from 1999 as the inaugural record. 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. The first sub-nine minute steeplechase for women was by Gulnara Galkina of Russia in 2008 with a clocking of 8:58.81.

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.

Men

Ratified
Not ratified
Ratified but later rescinded
Pending ratification
Belgium's Gaston Roelants broke the world record the year before and the year after his steeplechase gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Until 2023, Saif Saaeed Shaheen was the record holder.
Time Auto Athlete Location Date
8:49.6  Sándor Rozsnyói (HUN) Bern 1954-08-28
8:47.8  Pentti Karvonen (FIN) Helsinki 1955-07-01
8:45.4  Pentti Karvonen (FIN) Oslo 1955-07-15
8:45.4  Vasiliy Vlasenko (URS) Moscow 1955-08-18
8:41.2  Jerzy Chromik (POL) Brno 1955-08-31
8:40.2  Jerzy Chromik (POL) Budapest 1955-09-11
8:39.8  Semyon Rzhishchin (URS) Moscow 1956-08-14
8:35.6  Sándor Rozsnyói (HUN) Budapest 1956-09-16
8:35.5  Semyon Rzhishchin (URS) Tallinn 1958-07-21
8:32.0  Jerzy Chromik (POL) Warsaw 1958-08-02
8:31.4  Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak (POL) Tula 1960-06-26
8:31.2  Grigoriy Taran (URS) Kyiv 1961-05-28
8:30.4  Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak (POL) Wałcz 1961-08-10
8:29.6  Gaston Roelants (BEL) Leuven 1963-09-07
8:26.4  Gaston Roelants (BEL) Leuven 1965-08-07
8:24.2  Jouko Kuha (FIN) Stockholm 1968-07-17
8:22.2  Vladimir Dudin (URS) Kyiv 1969-08-19
8:22.0 8:21.98  Kerry O'Brien (AUS) Berlin 1970-07-04
8:20.8  Anders Gärderud (SWE) Helsinki 1972-09-14
8:20.8  Ben Jipcho (KEN) Lagos 1973-01-15
8:19.8  Ben Jipcho (KEN) Helsinki 1973-06-19
8:14.0 8:13.91  Ben Jipcho (KEN) Helsinki 1973-06-27
8:10.4  Anders Gärderud (SWE) Oslo 1975-06-25
8:09.8 8:09.70  Anders Gärderud (SWE) Stockholm 1975-07-01
8:08.0 8:08.02  Anders Gärderud (SWE) Montreal 1976-07-28
8:05.4  Henry Rono (KEN) Seattle 1978-05-13
8:05.35  Peter Koech (KEN) Stockholm 1989-07-03
8:02.08  Moses Kiptanui (KEN) Zürich 1992-08-19
7:59.18  Moses Kiptanui (KEN) Zürich 1995-08-16
7:59.08  Wilson Boit Kipketer (KEN) Zürich 1997-08-13
7:55.72  Bernard Barmasai (KEN) Cologne 1997-08-24
7:55.28  Brahim Boulami (MAR) Brussels 2001-08-24
7:53.63  Saif Saaeed Shaheen (QAT) Brussels 2004-09-03
7:52.11  Lamecha Girma (ETH) 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.

  • nb Until 2002 Saif Saaeed Shaheen was known as Stephen Cherono, and represented Kenya.

Women

Pre-IAAF recognition

Time Athlete Location Date
10:34.5  Sara Heeb (USA) Walnut 1996-04-20
10:30.2  Grace Padilla (USA) Los Angeles 1996-05-17
10:23.47  Courtney Meldrum (USA) Atlanta 1996-06-23
10:19.6  Karen Harvey (CAN) Walnut 1998-04-18
9:55.28  Daniela Petrescu (ROM) Bucharest 1998-06-21
9:48.88  Yelena Motalova (RUS) Tula 1999-07-31
9:43.64  Cristina Casandra (ROM) Bucharest 2000-08-07
9:40.20  Cristina Casandra (ROM) Reims 2000-08-30

IAAF ratified

Romania's Cristina Casandra set two world records in the event.
Time Athlete Location Date
9:48.88  Yelena Motalova (RUS) Tula 1999-07-31
9:43.64  Cristina Casandra (ROM) Bucharest 2000-08-07
9:40.20  Cristina Casandra (ROM) Reims 2000-08-30
9:25.31  Justyna Bąk (POL) Nice 2001-07-09
9:22.29  Justyna Bąk (POL) Milan 2002-06-05
9:21.72  Alesya Turova (BLR) Ostrava 2002-06-12
9:16.51  Alesya Turova (BLR) Gdańsk 2002-07-27
9:08.33  Gulnara Samitova (RUS) Tula 2003-08-10
9:01.59  Gulnara Samitova (RUS) Iraklio 2004-07-04
8:58.81  Gulnara Samitova-Galkina (RUS) Beijing 2008-08-17
8:52.78  Ruth Jebet (BHR) Paris 2016-08-27
8:44.32  Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) Monaco 2018-07-20

This page was last updated at 2023-09-04 12:37 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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