# 2019 World Athletics Championships – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

The men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha from 1 to 4 October 2019.
The winning margin was 0.01 seconds which as of 2024 is the only time the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase has been won by less than 0.2 seconds at these championships.

## Summary

Kenya considers the steeplechase to be their national sport. With defending champion Conseslus Kipruto, they qualified four to the final. the USA, with two Kenyan ex-pats and Ethiopia, also qualified all three of their entrants. This was only the second major championship since 2007 without perennial medalist Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad. Kipruto almost didn't make it. A stress fracture in April would sideline him for months, but he builds a primitive swimming pool at his home in Mosoriot Kenya to do aqua training until he could run again.
While they are a neighboring long-distance running rival, Ethiopia does not have the same successful track record in the steeplechase, but was encouraged by Getnet Wale winning the 2019 IAAF Diamond League. Here the Ethiopians took to the lead. Chala Beyo took the point first with Wale ,and Kipruto pushing the pace out front. After two laps, Wale took over. Beyo would not finish. Starting slower, Lamecha Girma ran in the middle of the pack for a while before moving forward to take over leading duties for the team. The fast pace dropped off many of the runners, the lead pack dwindling to the entire Kenyan team, Hillary Bor, Djilali Bedrani, returning silver medalist Soufiane El Bakkali, Wale and Girma. With two laps to go, Kipruto moved out to the lead and looked around for his teammates to join him, but help did not come forward. Instead, Wale moved ahead again and El Bakkali planted himself on Kipruto's shoulder. As the pace increased, the other three Kenyan's fell off the back of the pack. Bedrani and Bor were the next to go. It was a four-man group at the bell with Girma on the tail end. Through the penultimate turn, El Bakkali took the lead. For most of the last decade, the steeplechase was decided by a devastating move off the first barrier on the backstretch, usually by Ezekiel Kemboi. It is where Kipruto won the race in 2017 and the Olympics in 2016. Here, coming off the barrier, Kipruto gained a couple of feet on Wale but El Bakkali remained in command. Instead, Girma ran around the group and into the lead. Kipruto tried to react, passing El Bakkali over the water jump. Wale had no answer for the speed and the medalists were decided. Going into the final barrier, Girma opened up two metres on Kipruto. Coming off the barrier, Kipruto launched into a sprint gaining slightly on Girma. Desperately looking for the finish Girma dipped a little early, Kipruto dipped like a seasoned professional hurdler. In the photo finish, Kipruto took the gold by .01. 18-year-old Girma got the consolation prize of the Ethiopian national record that 19-year-old Wale had improved twice already in 2019.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| World record | Saif Saaeed Shaheen (QAT) | 7:53.63 | Brussels, Belgium | 3 September 2004 |
| Championship record | Ezekiel Kemboi (KEN) | 8:00.43 | Berlin, Germany | 18 August 2009 |
| World Leading | Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR) | 8:04.82 | Monaco | 12 July 2019 |
| African Record | Brimin Kiprop Kipruto (KEN) | 7:53.64 | Monaco | 22 July 2011 |
| Asian Record | Saif Saaeed Shaheen (QAT) | 7:53.63 | Brussels, Belgium | 3 September 2004 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Evan Jager (USA) | 8:00.45 | Paris, France | 4 July 2015 |
| South American Record | Wander do Prado Moura (BRA) | 8:14.41 | Mar del Plata, Argentina | 22 March 1995 |
| European Record | Mahiedine Mekhissi (FRA) | 8:00.09 | Paris, France | 6 July 2013 |
| Oceanian record | Peter Renner (NZL) | 8:14.05 | Koblenz, West Germany | 29 August 1984 |

## Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 8:29.00.

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), was as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 1 October | 18:15 | Heats |
| 4 October | 21:45 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first three in each heat (Q) and the next six fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Getnet Wale | Ethiopia (ETH) | 8:12.96 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Djilali Bedrani | France (FRA) | 8:13.02 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Leonard Kipkemoi Bett | Kenya (KEN) | 8:13.07 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Matthew Hughes | Canada (CAN) | 8:13.12 | q, SB |
| 5 | 1 | Fernando Carro | Spain (ESP) | 8:13.56 | q |
| 6 | 2 | Lamecha Girma | Ethiopia (ETH) | 8:16.64 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Soufiane El Bakkali | Morocco (MAR) | 8:17.96 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Abraham Kibiwott | Kenya (KEN) | 8:18.46 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | Andrew Bayer | United States (USA) | 8:18.66 | q |
| 10 | 1 | Stanley Kebenei | United States (USA) | 8:19.02 | q |
| 11 | 3 | Conseslus Kipruto | Kenya (KEN) | 8:19.20 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Benjamin Kigen | Kenya (KEN) | 8:19.44 | Q |
| 13 | 3 | Hillary Bor | United States (USA) | 8:20.67 | Q |
| 14 | 3 | Chala Beyo | Ethiopia (ETH) | 8:21.09 | q |
| 15 | 1 | Zak Seddon | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 8:22.51 | q |
| 16 | 2 | Albert Chemutai | Uganda (UGA) | 8:23.08 | |
| 17 | 3 | Ibrahim Ezzaydouni | Spain (ESP) | 8:23.99 | |
| 18 | 3 | Benjamin Kiplagat | Uganda (UGA) | 8:24.44 | SB |
| 19 | 1 | Yohanes Chiappinelli | Italy (ITA) | 8:24.73 | |
| 20 | 3 | Avinash Sable | India (IND) | 8:25.23 | qR, NR |
| 21 | 2 | Altobeli da Silva | Brazil (BRA) | 8:25.34 | SB |
| 22 | 1 | Amor Ben Yahia | Tunisia (TUN) | 8:26.12 | SB |
| 23 | 2 | Yemane Haileselassie | Eritrea (ERI) | 8:26.58 | |
| 24 | 1 | Martin Grau | Germany (GER) | 8:26.79 | SB |
| 25 | 1 | Tom Erling Kårbø | Norway (NOR) | 8:27.01 | PB |
| 26 | 1 | Boniface Abel Sikowo | Uganda (UGA) | 8:27.96 | |
| 27 | 2 | Osama Zoghlami | Italy (ITA) | 8:28.57 | |
| 28 | 2 | Daniel Arce | Spain (ESP) | 8:31.69 | |
| 29 | 3 | Topi Raitanen | Finland (FIN) | 8:32.44 | |
| 30 | 3 | Ryan Smeeton | Canada (CAN) | 8:32.53 | |
| 31 | 2 | Karl Bebendorf | Germany (GER) | 8:32.58 | |
| 32 | 2 | John Gay | Canada (CAN) | 8:33.74 | |
| 33 | 3 | Carlos San Martín | Colombia (COL) | 8:35.10 | |
| 34 | 2 | Bilal Tabti | Algeria (ALG) | 8:35.15 | |
| 35 | 3 | Salem Mohamed Attiaallah | Egypt (EGY) | 8:35.18 | |
| 36 | 1 | Abdelkarim Ben Zahra | Morocco (MAR) | 8:36.67 | |
| 37 | 3 | Yoann Kowal | France (FRA) | 8:37.90 | |
| 38 | 3 | Takele Nigate | Ethiopia (ETH) | 8:38.34 | |
| 39 | 1 | Kaur Kivistik | Estonia (EST) | 8:39.26 | |
| 40 | 3 | Yaser Bagharab | Qatar (QAT) | 8:39.65 | |
| 41 | 2 | Rantso Mokopane | South Africa (RSA) | 8:42.22 | |
| 42 | 2 | Ben Buckingham | Australia (AUS) | 8:42.86 | |
| 43 | 2 | Krystian Zalewski | Poland (POL) | 8:51.79 | |
| 44 | 3 | Otmane Nait-Hammou | Athlete Refugee Team (ART) | 9:30.17 | |
| | 1 | Fouad Idbafdil | Athlete Refugee Team (ART) | DNF | DNF |
| | 3 | Mohamed Tindouft | Morocco (MAR) | DNF | DNF |

### Final

The final was started on 4 October at 21:45.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Conseslus Kipruto | Kenya (KEN) | 8:01.35 | WL |
| | Lamecha Girma | Ethiopia (ETH) | 8:01.36 | NR |
| | Soufiane El Bakkali | Morocco (MAR) | 8:03.76 | SB |
| 4 | Getnet Wale | Ethiopia (ETH) | 8:05.21 | PB |
| 5 | Djilali Bedrani | France (FRA) | 8:05.23 | PB |
| 6 | Benjamin Kigen | Kenya (KEN) | 8:06.95 | |
| 7 | Abraham Kibiwott | Kenya (KEN) | 8:08.52 | |
| 8 | Hillary Bor | United States (USA) | 8:09.33 | |
| 9 | Leonard Kipkemoi Bett | Kenya (KEN) | 8:10.64 | |
| 10 | Stanley Kebenei | United States (USA) | 8:11.15 | SB |
| 11 | Fernando Carro | Spain (ESP) | 8:12.31 | |
| 12 | Andrew Bayer | United States (USA) | 8:12.47 | PB |
| 13 | Avinash Sable | India (IND) | 8:21.37 | NR |
| 14 | Matthew Hughes | Canada (CAN) | 8:24.78 | |
| 15 | Zak Seddon | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 8:40.23 | |
| | Chala Beyo | Ethiopia (ETH) | DNF | DNF |