# Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 3000 metres steeplechase

The women's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2008 Summer Olympics occurred on 15–17 August at the Beijing National Stadium, the first time this event had ever been held at the Olympics.
The qualifying standards were 9:46.00 (A standard) and 9:55.00 (B standard).
In the Final, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina of Russia won by 8.60 seconds, with a new world record of 8:58.81. She was the first woman to break the nine-minute barrier for this event.
Bronze medalist Yekaterina Volkova of Russia tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol) and was disqualified.

## Schedule

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, August 15, 2008 | 20:25-21:00 | Heats |
| Sunday, August 17, 2008 | 21:30-21:40 | Final |

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record | Gulnara Samitova-Galkina (RUS) | 9:01.59 | Heraklion, Greece | 4 July 2004 |
| Olympic record | Inaugural Event | | | |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | OR | WR |
| 17 August | Final | Gulnara Samitova-Galkina | Russia | 8:58.81 | OR | WR |

## Results
### Round 1

Qualification: First 4 in each heat(Q) and the next 3 fastest(q) advance to the Final.
(WR - World Record, NR - National Record, AR - Area Record, PB - Personal Best, SB - Season Best)
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Gulnara Galkina-Samitova | Russia | 9:15.17 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Ruth Bisibori Nyangau | Kenya | 9:19.75 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Eunice Jepkorir | Kenya | 9:21.31 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Wioletta Frankiewicz | Poland | 9:21.88 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 3 | Marta Domínguez | Spain | 9:22.11 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Cristina Casandra | Romania | 9:22.38 | Q, NR |
| 7 | 3 | Yekaterina Volkova | Russia | 9:23.06 | DSQ |
| 8 | 1 | Habiba Ghribi | Tunisia | 9:25.50 | q, NR |
| 9 | 3 | Zemzem Ahmed | Ethiopia | 9:25.63 | Q, PB |
| 10 | 3 | Elena Romagnolo | Italy | 9:27.48 | q, NR |
| 11 | 3 | Anna Willard | United States | 9:28.52 | q |
| 12 | 2 | Tatyana Petrova | Russia | 9:28.85 | Q |
| 13 | 2 | Roisin McGettigan | Ireland | 9:28.92 | Q, SB |
| 14 | 1 | Helen Clitheroe | Great Britain | 9:29.14 | NR |
| 15 | 2 | Jennifer Barringer | United States | 9:29.20 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Zulema Fuentes-Pila | Spain | 9:29.40 | Q, PB |
| 17 | 1 | Zhu Yanmei | China | 9:29.63 | PB |
| 18 | 3 | Antje Möldner | Germany | 9:29.86 | NR |
| 19 | 3 | Rasa Troup | Lithuania | 9:30.21 | NR |
| 20 | 2 | Jessica Augusto | Portugal | 9:30.23 | |
| 21 | 3 | Donna MacFarlane | Australia | 9:32.05 | |
| 22 | 3 | Sara Moreira | Portugal | 9:34.39 | |
| 23 | 2 | Ancuţa Bobocel | Romania | 9:35.31 | |
| 24 | 1 | Lindsey Anderson | United States | 9:36.81 | |
| 25 | 2 | Sophie Duarte | France | 9:38.08 | |
| 26 | 1 | Mekdes Bekele | Ethiopia | 9:41.43 | |
| 27 | 1 | Fionnuala Britton | Ireland | 9:43.57 | SB |
| 28 | 1 | Valentyna Horpynych | Ukraine | 9:43.95 | |
| 29 | 1 | Rosa Morató | Spain | 9:45.33 | |
| 30 | 2 | Sofia Assefa | Ethiopia | 9:47.02 | |
| 30 | 3 | Katarzyna Kowalska | Poland | 9:47.02 | |
| 32 | 1 | Victoria Mitchell | Australia | 9:47.88 | |
| 33 | 1 | Türkan Erismis | Turkey | 9:48.54 | |
| 34 | 1 | Clarisse Cruz | Portugal | 9:49.45 | |
| 35 | 1 | Minori Hayakari | Japan | 9:49.70 | |
| 36 | 3 | Barbara Parker | Great Britain | 9:51.93 | |
| 37 | 1 | Widad Mendil | Algeria | 9:52.35 | |
| 38 | 2 | Muna Durka | Sudan | 9:53.09 | |
| 39 | 2 | Veerle Dejaeghere | Belgium | 9:54.65 | |
| 40 | 2 | Hanane Ouhaddou | Morocco | 9:56.41 | |
| 41 | 2 | Veronica Nyaruai | Kenya | 10:01.69 | |
| 42 | 3 | Li Zhenzhu | China | 10:04.05 | |
| 43 | 2 | Oxana Juravel | Moldova | 10:04.38 | |
| 44 | 2 | Aslı Çakır | Turkey | 10:05.76 | |
| 45 | 3 | Inna Poluškina | Latvia | 10:18.60 | |
| 46 | 2 | Irini Kokkinariou | Greece | 10:22.39 | |
| 47 | 2 | Zhao Yanni | China | 10:36.77 | |
| | 3 | Korene Hinds | Jamaica | DNF | |
| | 2 | Mardrea Hyman | Jamaica | DNF | |
| | 3 | Dobrinka Shalamanova | Bulgaria | DNF | |
| | 2 | Zenaide Vieira | Brazil | DNF | |

## Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Gulnara Samitova-Galkina | Russia | 8:58.81 | WR |
| | Eunice Jepkorir | Kenya | 9:07.41 | AR |
| DSQ | Yekaterina Volkova | Russia | 9:07.64 | DSQ |
| | Tatyana Petrova | Russia | 9:12.33 | SB |
| 4 | Cristina Casandra | Romania | 9:16.85 | NR |
| 5 | Ruth Bisibori Nyangau | Kenya | 9:17.35 | PB |
| 6 | Zemzem Ahmed | Ethiopia | 9:17.85 | NR |
| 7 | Wioletta Frankiewicz | Poland | 9:21.76 | SB |
| 8 | Jennifer Barringer | United States | 9:22.26 | AR |
| 9 | Anna Willard | United States | 9:25.63 | |
| 10 | Elena Romagnolo | Italy | 9:30.04 | |
| 11 | Zulema Fuentes-Pila | Spain | 9:35.16 | PB |
| 12 | Habiba Ghribi | Tunisia | 9:36.43 | |
| 13 | Roisin McGettigan | Ireland | 9:55.89 | |
| — | Marta Domínguez | Spain | DNF | |

### Splits

| Intermediate | Athlete | Country | Mark |
| 1000m | Gulnara Samitova-Galkina | Russia | 2:58.63 |
| 2000m | Gulnara Samitova-Galkina | Russia | 6:01.20 |