# 3000 metres steeplechase world record progression

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* Ratified but later rescinded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
| Time | Auto | Athlete | Location | Date |
| 9.49.8 | | Josef Ternström (SWE) | Malmö | 1914-07-04 |
| 9.36.0 NWJ | | Ernesto Ambrosini (ITA) | Paris | 1923-06-09 |
| 9.33.4 NWJ | | Paul Bontemps (FRA) | Paris | 1924-06-09 |
| 9.31.2 NWJ | | Félix Roman (FRA) | Marseille | 1925-06-07 |
| 9.25.2 | | Toivo Loukola (FIN) | Helsinki | 1928-07-09 |
| 9.21.8 | | Toivo Loukola (FIN) | Amsterdam | 1928-08-04 |
| 9.14.5 | | Joseph McCluskey (USA) | Stanford | 1932-07-16 |
| 9.09.4 | | Volmari Iso-Hollo (FIN) | Lahti | 1933-05-28 |
| 9.08.2 | | Harold Manning (USA) | New York City | 1936-07-12 |
| 9.03.8 | | Volmari Iso-Hollo (FIN) | Berlin | 1936-08-08 |
| 9.03.4 | | Erik Elmsäter (SWE) | Ostersund | 1943-08-22 |
| 8.59.6 | | Erik Elmsäter (SWE) | Stockholm | 1944-08-04 |
| 8.49.8 | | Vladimir Kazantsev (URS) | Moscow | 1951-07-10 |
| 8.48.6 | | Vladimir Kazantsev (URS) | Kiev | 1952-06-12 |
| 8.45.4 | | Horace Ashenfelter (USA) | Helsinki | 1952-07-25 |
| 8.44.4 | | Olavi Rinteenpää (FIN) | Helsinki | 1953-07-02 |
| 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

| 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 |