# Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

These are the official results of the men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 33 participating athletes, with four qualifying heats.
At the gun, it seemed like the rest of the world came to run, while the Kenyan team were just tagging along. Starting off slowly, all three Kenyans casually jogged around the outside of the pack and towards the front. William Mutwol continued, breaking away to as much as a 10-metre lead, with Elarbi Khattabi the only one to bridge the gap. On the next lap, Matthew Birir, running in fourth place, went down on the track, but Birir righted himself quickly and was back on his feet before the back of the strung out field had passed him. Within two more barriers, he was back in the same fourth-place position. By the time they reached the same spot on the track where Birir fell, he was in third place as the tail of the three man Kenyan breakaway. Over the next two laps, the only athlete seriously marking the Kenyans was Alessandro Lambruschini. Just after two laps to go, Patrick Sang edged ahead of Mutwol with Lambruschini gaining a little ground between barriers and losing the same amount each time he went over one. With a lap to go, Birir moved into the lead and the Kenyan sweep simply pulled away from Lambruschini, with the rest of the field already disappeared behind. No drama, no hurdling the water jump, no challenges, not even any sprinting. Lambruschini finished fourth for the second Olympics in a row, more than 25 metres behind Mutwol. This became the first Olympic podium sweep by an African nation.

## Medalists

| Gold | Matthew Birir Kenya |
| Silver | Patrick Sang Kenya |
| Bronze | William Mutwol Kenya |

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 8:05.35 | Peter Koech | Stockholm (SWE) | July 3, 1989 |
| Olympic Record | 8:05.51 | Julius Kariuki | Seoul (KOR) | September 30, 1988 |

## Final

* Held on August 7, 1992
| RANK | FINAL | TIME |
| | Matthew Birir (KEN) | 8:08.84 |
| | Patrick Sang (KEN) | 8:09.55 |
| | William Mutwol (KEN) | 8:10.74 |
| 4. | Alessandro Lambruschini (ITA) | 8:15.52 |
| 5. | Steffen Brand (GER) | 8:16.60 |
| 6. | Tom Hanlon (GBR) | 8:18.14 |
| 7. | Brian Diemer (USA) | 8:18.77 |
| 8. | Azzedine Brahmi (ALG) | 8:20.71 |
| 9. | William Van Dijck (BEL) | 8:22.51 |
| 10. | Elarbi Khattabi (MAR) | 8:23.82 |
| 11. | Clodoaldo Lopes do Carmo (BRA) | 8:25.92 |
| 12. | Ricardo Vera (URU) | 8:26.35 |

## Semifinals

| RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
| 1. | Matthew Birir (KEN) | 8:25.55 |
| 2. | Steffen Brand (GER) | 8:26.12 |
| 3. | Patrick Sang (KEN) | 8:26.46 |
| 4. | William Van Dijck (BEL) | 8:26.70 |
| 5. | Tom Hanlon (GBR) | 8:26.91 |
| 6. | Ricardo Vera (URU) | 8:27.46 |
| 7. | Mark Croghan (USA) | 8:30.15 |
| 8. | Tom Buckner (GBR) | 8:32.89 |
| 9. | Ville Hautala (FIN) | 8:33.69 |
| 10. | João Junqueira (POR) | 8:39.17 |
| 11. | Daniel Lopez (USA) | 8:41.28 |
| 12. | Joseph Mahmoud (FRA) | 8:52.00 |
| RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
| 1. | William Mutwol (KEN) | 8:19.83 |
| 2. | Clodoaldo Lopes do Carmo (BRA) | 8:20.46 |
| 3. | Brian Diemer (USA) | 8:23.30 |
| 4. | Alessandro Lambruschini (ITA) | 8:23.56 |
| 5. | Azzedine Brahmi (ALG) | 8:25.85 |
| 6. | Elarbi Khattabi (MAR) | 8:27.00 |
| 7. | Vladimir Golias (EUN) | 8:30.26 |
| 8. | Colin Walker (GBR) | 8:34.82 |
| 9. | Mohammed Al-Dossary (KSA) | 8:36.38 |
| 10. | Whaddon Niewoudt (RSA) | 8:37.99 |
| 11. | Hagen Melzer (GER) | 8:38.07 |
| 12. | Thierry Brusseau (FRA) | 8:42.48 |

## Heats

| RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
| 1. | William Mutwol (KEN) | 8:26.23 |
| 2. | Brian Diemer (USA) | 8:28.88 |
| 3. | Colin Walker (GBR) | 8:29.34 |
| 4. | Steffen Brand (GER) | 8:30.03 |
| 5. | Vladimir Golyas (EUN) | 8:32.49 |
| 6. | Thierry Brusseau (FRA) | 8:33.10 |
| 7. | Ville Hautala (FIN) | 8:34.10 |
| 8. | Michael Buchleitner (AUT) | 8:40.46 |
| 9. | Graeme Fell (CAN) | 8:50.87 |
| 10. | Prakash Davendra Singh (FIJ) | 9:07.49 |
| — | Abdelaziz Sahere (MAR) | DNS |
| RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
| 1. | Matthew Birir (KEN) | 8:23.22 |
| 2. | Clodoaldo Lopes do Carmo (BRA) | 8:26.31 |
| 3. | William Van Dijck (BEL) | 8:27.23 |
| 4. | Azzeddine Brahmi (ALG) | 8:28.01 |
| 5. | Tom Buckner (GBR) | 8:28.36 |
| 6. | Elarbi Khattabi (MAR) | 8:28.50 |
| 7. | Daniel Lopez (USA) | 8:29.01 |
| 8. | Hagen Melzer (GER) | 8:31.89 |
| 9. | Mohammed Al-Dossary (KSA) | 8:36.73 |
| 10. | Ivan Konovalov (EUN) | 8:58.04 |
| 11. | Hector Begeo (PHI) | 9:14.48 |
| RANK | HEAT 3 | TIME |
| 1. | Patrick Sang (KEN) | 8:27.01 |
| 2. | Tom Hanlon (GBR) | 8:27.46 |
| 3. | Ricardo Vera (URU) | 8:27.71 |
| 4. | Mark Croghan (USA) | 8:28.15 |
| 5. | Alessandro Lambruschini (ITA) | 8:29.64 |
| 6. | Joseph Mahmoud (FRA) | 8:30.54 |
| 7. | Whaddon Niewoudt (RSA) | 8:30.61 |
| 8. | João Junqueira (POR) | 8:32.68 |
| 9. | Hamid Sajjadi (IRI) | 8:36.87 |
| 10. | Marcelo Cascabelo (ARG) | 8:38.89 |
| 11. | Jamal Abdi Hassan (QAT) | 8:54.98 |

## Final ranking

| Rank | Name | Nation |
| | Matthew Birir | Kenya |
| | Patrick Sang | Kenya |
| | William Mutwol | Kenya |
| 4 | Alessandro Lambruschini | Italy |
| 5 | Steffen Brand | Germany |
| 6 | Tom Hanlon | Great Britain |
| 7 | Brian Diemer | United States |
| 8 | Azzedine Brahmi | Algeria |
| 9 | William Van Dijck | Belgium |
| 10 | Elarbi Khattabi | Morocco |
| 11 | Clodoaldo do Carmo | Brazil |
| 12 | Ricardo Vera | Uruguay |
| 13 | Mark Croghan | United States |
| 14 | Vladimir Golyas | Unified Team |
| 15 | Tom Buckner | Great Britain |
| 16 | Ville Hautala | Finland |
| Rank | Name | Nation |
| 17 | Colin Walker | Great Britain |
| 18 | Mohammed Al-Dossary | Saudi Arabia |
| 19 | Whaddon Niewoudt | South Africa |
| 20 | Hagen Melzer | Germany |
| 21 | João Junqueira | Portugal |
| 22 | Daniel Lopez | United States |
| 23 | Thierry Brusseau | France |
| 24 | Joseph Mahmoud | France |
| 25 | Hamid Sajjadi | Iran |
| 26 | Marcelo Cascabelo | Argentina |
| 27 | Michael Buchleitner | Austria |
| 28 | Graeme Fell | Canada |
| 29 | Jamal Abdi Hassan | Qatar |
| 30 | Ivan Konovalov | Unified Team |
| 31 | Davendra Singh | Fiji |
| 32 | Hector Begeo | Philippines |