On July 30 and August 2, 2021, the Japan National Stadium hosted the men’s 3000 metre steeplechase at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Kenya had won this competition 11 times in a row at the Olympics since 1968, including the last nine.
15 Men Qualified Through a Tough Round of Heats
After a rigorous series of heats, 15 guys made the cut. Ryuji Miura broke the Japanese National Record at home.
One Kenyan and one Ethiopian runner, among others, had to sit out the final after performing poorly in the third heat.
The final, as is customary for most championships, got off to a slow start, with the Ethiopians Girma and Getnet Wale setting the pace.
Miura injected some extra speed at the one-kilometer mark, but the Ethiopians regrouped behind the Kenyans Abraham Kibiwott and Benjamin Kigen and the Kenyan-born American Benard Keter.
Indian Contestant Avinash Sable Finished 7th in his Heat of Men’s 3000m
Avinash Sable of India placed seventh in his Men’s 3000 Meter Steeplechase Heat in the Opening Round at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Sable was selected for Heat 2 and clocked in at 8 minutes, 18.12 seconds, which not only broke her own record but also broke India’s national record on the world’s largest athletics stage.
On the opening day of the Athletics competition at the Tokyo Olympics, Sable was seeded into Heat 2 of the Men’s 3000 Steeplechase along with 14 other participants.
The Kenyan runner Abraham Kibiwot won the Heat with a timing of 8:12.25, easily beating out the competition. Getnet Ethwale of Ethiopia and Ahmed Abdelwahed of Italy followed after him.
Women’s 3000m Steeplechase
The steeplechase race is wide open heading into the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because the previous year’s top performer hasn’t been as good.
Beatrice Chepkoech set a new world record in 2018 with a time of 8:44.32, and she won the 2019 world championship with a championship record time of 8:57.84, finishing nearly five seconds clear of the rest of the field.
Despite losing valuable time by going over a barrier too early, she still managed to place fourth at both the 2016 Olympics and the 2017 World Championships.
She came back strong, winning 17 of 19 races in 2018 and 2019. She has now run the steeplechase in under nine minutes on two separate occasions.
Conclusion
All the other countries competing in the event immediately had their sights set on them after seeing that emblem of national pride.
As Kenya’s neighbour and distance running opponent, Ethiopia had a good shot at the Olympics in 2021.
Because to Lamecha Girma, who held the world record and three of the top five times in the world heading into the games.
