# Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

The Men's 3000 metres steeplechase competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 3–5 August.
The steeplechase has become a national event of Kenya. Their team tactics dominate major championship races. For the first 5 laps, they let others dominate the lead, primarily led by Americans Donald Cabral and Evan Jager. Then the Kenyans decided to move as a team, leaving the field to chase. With less than 800 metres to go, Ugandan Benjamin Kiplagat got tangled up on a barrier and fell flat on his face, the runners behind him having to scramble. 200 metres later, Kenyan Brimin Kipruto fell. Though he quickly scrambled to his feet, that effectively ruined the chances for a Kenyan sweep. Still the other two led through the final lap. Former gold medalist and multiple world champion Ezekiel Kemboi pulled away off the front. As Abel Mutai began to falter, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad sprinted past to repeat his silver medal. Kemboi's lead was secure and after clearing the final barrier, he began to celebrate, drifting out to lane 8 by the time he crossed the finish line.
After the finish, Kemboi did the victory dance he has become known for. He and Mekhissi-Benabbad exchanged jerseys and the diminutive Kemboi leaped into the much larger Mekhissi-Benabbad's arms.

## Competition format

The Men's 3000 m steeplechase competition consists of heats (Round 1) and a Final.

## Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 3 August 2012 | 13:00 | Round 1 |
| Sunday, 5 August 2012 | 21:25 | Finals |

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Saif Saaeed Shaheen (QAT) | 7:53.63 | Brussels, Belgium | 3 September 2004 |
| Olympic record | Julius Kariuki (KEN) | 8:05.51 | Seoul, South Korea | 30 September 1988 |
| 2012 World leading | Paul Kipsiele Koech (KEN) | 7:54.31 | Rome, Italy | 31 May 2012 |
The following National records were set during this competition.
| Turkey National Record | Tarik Langat Akdag (TUR) | 8:17.85 s |
| Venezuela National Record | José Peña (VEN) | 8:24.06 s |

## Results
### Round 1

Qual. rule: first 4 of each heat (Q) plus the 3 fastest times (q) qualified.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad | France | 8:16.23 | Q |
| 2 | Evan Jager | United States | 8:16.61 | Q |
| 3 | Abel Mutai | Kenya | 8:17.70 | Q |
| 4 | Tarik Langat Akdag | Turkey | 8:17.85 | Q, NR |
| 5 | Nahom Mesfin Tariku | Ethiopia | 8:18.16 | q, SB |
| 6 | Benjamin Kiplagat | Uganda | 8:18.44 | q |
| 7 | Amor Ben Yahia | Tunisia | 8:22.70 | PB |
| 8 | José Peña | Venezuela | 8:24.06 | NR |
| 9 | Ali Ahmed Al-Amri | Saudi Arabia | 8:26.22 | SB |
| 10 | Hicham Sigueni | Morocco | 8:35.89 | |
| 11 | Angel Mullera | Spain | 8:38.07 | |
| 12 | Alberto Paulo | Portugal | 8:40.74 | |
| 13 | Steffen Uliczka | Germany | 8:41.08 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Brimin Kipruto | Kenya | 8:28.62 | Q |
| 2 | Yuri Floriani | Italy | 8:29.01 | Q |
| 3 | Brahim Taleb | Morocco | 8:29.02 | Q |
| 4 | Jukka Keskisalo | Finland | 8:29.13 | Q |
| 5 | Nikolay Chavkin | Russia | 8:29.72 | |
| 6 | Youcef Abdi | Australia | 8:29.81 | |
| 7 | Jacob Araptany | Uganda | 8:35.85 | |
| 8 | Vincent Zouaoui-Dandrieux | France | 8:36.96 | |
| 9 | Kyle Alcorn | United States | 8:37.11 | |
| 10 | Artem Kosinov | Kazakhstan | 8:42.27 | |
| 11 | Mario Bazan | Peru | 8:51.95 | |
| 12 | Abdelaziz Merzougui | Spain | 8:58.20 | |
| - | Birhan Getahun | Ethiopia | DNF | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Roba Gari | Ethiopia | 8:20.68 | Q |
| 2 | Ezekiel Kemboi | Kenya | 8:20.97 | Q |
| 3 | Hamid Ezzine | Morocco | 8:21.25 | Q |
| 4 | Donald Cabral | United States | 8:21.46 | Q |
| 5 | Ion Luchianov | Moldova | 8:22.09 | q, SB |
| 6 | Mohamed Khaled Belabbas | Algeria | 8:22.32 | SB |
| 7 | Alex Genest | Canada | 8:22.62 | SB |
| 8 | Vadym Slobodenyuk | Ukraine | 8:23.35 | |
| 9 | Łukasz Parszczyński | Poland | 8:30.08 | |
| 10 | Weynay Ghebresilasie | Eritrea | 8:37.57 | |
| 11 | Albert Minczér | Hungary | 8:40.74 | SB |
| 12 | Stuart Stokes | Great Britain | 8:43.04 | |
| - | Víctor Garcia | Spain | DNF | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Ezekiel Kemboi | Kenya | 8:18.56 | |
| | Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad | France | 8:19.08 | |
| | Abel Mutai | Kenya | 8:19.73 | |
| 4 | Roba Gari | Ethiopia | 8:20.00 | |
| 5 | Brimin Kipruto | Kenya | 8:23.03 | |
| 6 | Evan Jager | United States | 8:23.87 | |
| 7 | Hamid Ezzine | Morocco | 8:24.90 | |
| 8 | Donald Cabral | United States | 8:25.91 | |
| 9 | Tarik Langat Akdag | Turkey | 8:27.64 | |
| 10 | Ion Luchianov | Moldova | 8:28.15 | |
| 11 | Brahim Taleb | Morocco | 8:32.40 | |
| 12 | Nahom Mesfin Tariku | Ethiopia | 8:35.12 | |
| 13 | Yuri Floriani | Italy | 8:40.07 | |
| | Jukka Keskisalo | Finland | DNF | |
| | Benjamin Kiplagat | Uganda | DQ | R 163.3b* |
* Infringement of the inside border.