Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

Men's 3000 metres steeplechase
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario
DatesOctober 14 (heats)
October 16 (final)
Competitors39 from 22 nations
Medalists
 Amos Biwott
Kenya
 Benjamin Kogo
Kenya
 George Young
United States
Video on YouTube @ 7:10 Official Video
Athletics at the
1968 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m   men   women
200 m men women
400 m men women
800 m men women
1500 m men
5000 m men
10,000 m men
80 m hurdles women
110 m hurdles men
400 m hurdles men
3000 m
steeplechase		 men
4×100 m relay men women
4×400 m relay men
Road events
Marathon men
20 km walk men
50 km walk men
Field events
Long jump men women
Triple jump men
High jump men women
Pole vault men
Shot put men women
Discus throw men women
Javelin throw men women
Hammer throw men
Combined events
Pentathlon women
Decathlon men

Four years earlier, Benjamin Kogo was the only Kenyan in the field, not making it out of the qualifying round. On the final lap, Kogo was in third place and his teammate was back in fifth behind Soviet Aleksandr Morozov with 200 metres to go. George Young had a few metres lead on Kerry O'Brien. In the 50 metres going into the water jump, Kogo passed O'Brien and pulled even with Young. Kogo took that water jump so much faster than Young, he gained a foot and had the momentum to carry him several metres into the lead. Young was straining to hold off O'Brien over the final barrier. O'Brien even checked over his left shoulder to make sure Morozov was not coming. Simultaneously Biwott was about to pass him on right. Biwott took the hurdle awkwardly, almost landing on both feet. But Biwott had more speed, leaving O'Brien and Young then sprinting past Kogo on to a three metre victory.

Since this 1-2 victory, Kenya has gone on to dominate the event in the Olympics. Except for the two boycott years of 1976 and 1980, Kenya has won more than 2/3 of all medals offered, usually going 1-2 and sweeping the event twice.

Results

Round One

The first rounds were held on October 14. The fastest four athletes in each of the three heats advanced to the Final Round.

Heat One

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Benjamin Kogo Kenya 8:57.80Q
2 Javier Álvarez Spain 9:03.74Q
3 Bengt Persson Sweden 9:06.43Q
4 Arne Risa Norway 9:07.31Q
5 John Jackson Great Britain 9:11.33
6 Conrad Nightingale United States 9:13.23
7 Tadesse Wolde-Medhin Ethiopia 9:13.24
8 Manuel de Oliveira Portugal 9:19.22
9 Klaus-Ludwig Brosius West Germany 9:23.98
10 János Szabó Hungary 9:25.82
11 Pedro Miranda Mexico 9:25.95
12 Domingo Amaizón Argentina 9:43.06

Heat Two

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Jean-Paul Villain France 9:01.12Q
2 George Young United States 9:01.49Q
3 Kerry O'Brien Australia 9:02.31Q
4 Viktor Kudinskiy Soviet Union 9:05.25Q
5 Willi Wagner West Germany 9:24.49
6 Labidi Ayachi Tunisia 9:24.62
7 Nobuyoshi Miura Japan 9:32.95
8 Maurice Herriott Great Britain 9:34.68
9 Albertino Etchechury Uruguay 9:35.61
10 Eddy Van Butsele Belgium 9:38.79
11 Jan Cych Poland 9:50.78
12 Hans Menet Switzerland 10:02.06
13 Efraín Cordero El Salvador 11:19.23
AC Mariano Haro Spain [9:15.93]DQ

Heat Three

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Amos Biwott Kenya 8:49.39Q
2 Mikhail Zhelev Bulgaria 9:01.96Q
3 Gaston Roelants Belgium 9:08.29Q
4 Aleksandr Morozov Soviet Union 9:08.45Q
5 Bill Reilly United States 9:10.35
6 Peter Welsh New Zealand 9:13.80
7 Gareth Bryan-Jones Great Britain 9:16.86
8 Jan-Erik Karlsson Sweden 9:19.64
9 Taketsugu Saruwatari Japan 9:26.30
10 Heinz-Gerd Mölders West Germany 9:32.22
11 Umberto Risi Italy 9:43.97
12 Julio Quevedo Guatemala 9:48.37
AC Guy Texereau France DNF

Final

The final was held on October 16. Biwott amazed the crowd leaping over the water jump using long jump-type technique, completely clearing the water. His barrier technique was also unique and he jumped with both feet together rather than in a hurdling technique. Benjamin Kogo led the final thru the kilometer but at the bell George Young joined him. Young took the lead with 300 to go, but Biwott ran down everybody in the final straight to win the gold medal. This began the Kenyan dominance of the steeplechase event.

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st, gold medalist(s) Amos Biwott Kenya 8:51.02
2nd, silver medalist(s) Benjamin Kogo Kenya 8:51.56
3rd, bronze medalist(s) George Young United States 8:51.86
4 Kerry O'Brien Australia 8:52.08
5 Aleksandr Morozov Soviet Union 8:55.61
6 Mikhail Zhelev Bulgaria 8:58.41
7 Gaston Roelants Belgium 8:59.50
8 Arne Risa Norway 9:08.98
9 Jean-Paul Villain France 9:16.27
10 Bengt Persson Sweden 9:20.61
11 Javier Álvarez Spain 9:24.51
Viktor Kudinskiy Soviet Union DNF

References

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