# 1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

The men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics was held in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, at Laurentian University Stadium on 29 and 31 July.

## Medalists

| Gold | William Chemitei Kenya |
| Silver | Matthew Birir Kenya |
| Bronze | Arto Kuusisto Finland |

## Results
### Final

31 July
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | William Chemitei | Kenya | 8:41.61 |
| | Matthew Birir | Kenya | 8:44.54 |
| | Arto Kuusisto | Finland | 8:46.42 |
| 4 | Wander Moura | Brazil | 8:48.16 |
| 5 | Leonid Shvetsov | Soviet Union | 8:51.01 |
| 6 | Savino Tondo | Italy | 8:56.66 |
| 7 | Burgas Yordanov | Bulgaria | 9:00.65 |
| 8 | Kim Bauermeister | West Germany | 9:01.19 |
| 9 | Sérgio Ribeiro | Brazil | 9:01.97 |
| 10 | Rorri Currie | Canada | 9:04.71 |
| 11 | Horst Vangermain | East Germany | 9:04.96 |
| 12 | Jason Martin | United States | 9:04.96 |
| 13 | Simretu Alemayehu | Ethiopia | 9:05.56 |
| 14 | Markku Kyyrönen | Finland | 9:06.57 |
| 15 | Vittorio Formenti | Italy | 9:08.04 |

### Heats

29 July

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Vittorio Formenti | Italy | 9:03.05 | Q |
| 2 | Simretu Alemayehu | Ethiopia | 9:03.97 | Q |
| 3 | Arto Kuusisto | Finland | 9:07.23 | Q |
| 4 | Leonid Shvetsov | Soviet Union | 9:12.01 | Q |
| 5 | Spencer Duval | United Kingdom | 9:14.65 | |
| 6 | Romain Berthier | France | 9:26.20 | |
| 7 | Chad Findley | United States | 9:36.40 | |
| 8 | Geir Skari | Norway | 9:40.85 | |
| 9 | Hiroyuki Itabashi | Japan | 9:51.29 | |
| 10 | Mathevan Maran | Singapore | 10:05.18 | |
| | Oto Oreško | Czechoslovakia | DNF | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Matthew Birir | Kenya | 8:54.51 | Q |
| 2 | Wander Moura | Brazil | 9:05.62 | Q |
| 3 | Horst Vangermain | East Germany | 9:07.73 | Q |
| 4 | Sérgio Ribeiro | Brazil | 9:08.74 | Q |
| 5 | Rorri Currie | Canada | 9:08.76 | q |
| 6 | Bruno Saulnier | France | 9:14.44 | |
| 7 | Michael Buchleitner | Austria | 9:18.29 | |
| 8 | Greg Collier | Australia | 9:19.19 | |
| 9 | Lars Richter | West Germany | 9:31.12 | |
| 10 | Michael Johnston | New Zealand | 9:39.46 | |
| 11 | Juan Carlos Salcedo | Spain | 9:56.71 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | William Chemitei | Kenya | 8:53.89 | Q |
| 2 | Savino Tondo | Italy | 9:04.59 | Q |
| 3 | Burgas Yordanov | Bulgaria | 9:05.40 | Q |
| 4 | Kim Bauermeister | West Germany | 9:07.77 | Q |
| 5 | Jason Martin | United States | 9:10.60 | q |
| 6 | Markku Kyyrönen | Finland | 9:12.14 | q |
| 7 | Carlos Pinto | Portugal | 9:22.51 | |
| 8 | Douglas Rountree | New Zealand | 9:24.65 | |
| 9 | Maciej Pawlowski | Poland | 9:35.14 | |
| 10 | Alfredo Nuñez | Dominican Republic | 9:37.45 | |
| 11 | David Paul | Canada | 9:44.81 | |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 33 athletes from 24 countries participated in the event.
* Australia (1)
* Austria (1)
* Brazil (2)
* Bulgaria (1)
* Canada (2)
* Czechoslovakia (1)
* Dominican Republic (1)
* East Germany (1)
* Ethiopia (1)
* Finland (2)
* France (2)
* Italy (2)
* Japan (1)
* Kenya (2)
* New Zealand (2)
* Norway (1)
* Poland (1)
* Portugal (1)
* Singapore (1)
* Soviet Union (1)
* Spain (1)
* United Kingdom (1)
* United States (2)
* West Germany (2)