| | Event type

3,000 metres Steeplechase, Men

Date	14 – 16 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Ciudad de México
Participants	40 from 27 countries

Viktor Kudinsky (URS) had won the 1966 European Championships and was favored but also highly considered was American George Young, who was entered in the unusual combination of the steeplechase and marathon. Track & Field News noted that Kenya’s Amos Biwott could be )a possible surprise). Biwott amazed the crowd with his technique over the water jump. Apparently almost afraid of the water, he leapt over the jump using long jump-type technique, completely clearing the water. His barrier technique was also unique and he jumped with both feet together rather than in a hurdling technique. Kenya’s Benjamin Kogo led the final thru the kilometer but at the bell he was leading with Young. Young went to the lead with 300 to go, but Biwott ran down everybody in the final straight to win the gold medal. This began the Kenyan dominance of the steeplechase event.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	Final
1	562	Amos Biwott	KEN	8:49.4 (1 h3)	8:51.0 (1)	Gold
2	567	Benjamin Kogo	KEN	8:57.8 (1 h1)	8:51.6 (2)	Silver
3	318	George Young	USA	9:02.2 (2 h2)	8:51.8 (3)	Bronze
4	112	Kerry O'Brien	AUS	9:02.4 (3 h2)	8:52.0 (4)
5	818	Aleksandr Morozov	URS	9:08.4 (4 h3)	8:55.8 (5)
6	155	Mihail Zhelev	BUL	9:01.0 (2 h3)	8:58.4 (6)
7	141	Gaston Roelants	BEL	9:08.2 (3 h3)	8:59.4 (7)
8	647	Arne Risa	NOR	9:07.2 (4 h1)	9:09.0 (8)
9	372	Jean-Paul Villain	FRA	9:01.2 (1 h2)	9:16.2 (9)
10	738	Bengt Persson	SWE	9:06.4 (3 h1)	9:20.6 (10)
11	242	Javier Álvarez	ESP	9:03.8 (2 h1)	9:24.6 (11)
AC r2/2	811	Viktor Kudinsky	URS	9:05.2 (4 h2)	– (DNF)
5 h1 r1/2	–	John Jackson	GBR	9:11.4 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r1/2	–	Willi Wagner	FRG	9:24.4 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r1/2	–	Bill Reilly	USA	9:10.4 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r1/2	–	Conrad Nightingale	USA	9:13.2 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r1/2	–	Labidi Ayachi	TUN	9:24.6 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r1/2	–	Peter Welsh	NZL	9:13.8 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r1/2	–	Tadesse Wolde-Medhin	ETH	9:13.2 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r1/2	–	Nobuyoshi Miura	JPN	9:33.0 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r1/2	–	Gareth Bryan-Jones	GBR	9:16.8 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r1/2	687	Manuel Oliveira	POR	9:19.2 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r1/2	–	Maurice Herriott	GBR	9:34.6 (8 h2)	–
8 h3 r1/2	–	Jan-Erik Karlsson	SWE	9:19.6 (8 h3)	–
9 h1 r1/2	–	Klaus-Ludwig Brosius	FRG	9:24.0 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r1/2	–	Albertino Etchechury	URU	9:35.6 (9 h2)	–
9 h3 r1/2	–	Taketsugu Saruwatari	JPN	9:26.2 (9 h3)	–
10 h1 r1/2	–	János Szabó	HUN	9:25.8 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r1/2	–	Eddy Van Butsele	BEL	9:38.8 (10 h2)	–
10 h3 r1/2	–	Heinz-Gerd Mölders	FRG	9:32.2 (10 h3)	–
11 h1 r1/2	–	Pedro Miranda	MEX	9:26.0 (11 h1)	–
11 h2 r1/2	–	Jan Cych	POL	9:50.8 (11 h2)	–
11 h3 r1/2	–	Umberto Risi	ITA	9:44.0 (11 h3)	–
12 h1 r1/2	–	Domingo Amaisón	ARG	9:43.0 (12 h1)	–
12 h2 r1/2	–	Hans Menet	SUI	10:02.0 (12 h2)	–
12 h3 r1/2	448	Julio Quevedo	GUA	9:48.4 (12 h3)	–
13 h2 r1/2	236	Efraín Cordero	ESA	– (13 h2)	–
AC h1 r1/2	–	Larbi Oukada	MAR	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h3 r1/2	–	Guy Texereau	FRA	– (DNF h3)	–
AC h2 r1/2	–	Mariano Haro	ESP	[9:16.0] (DQ h2)	–

Round One (14 October 1968 — 17:00)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	7	Benjamin Kogo	KEN	8:57.8	8:57.80	Q
2	3	Javier Álvarez	ESP	9:03.8	9:03.74	Q
3	12	Bengt Persson	SWE	9:06.4	9:06.43	Q
4	2	Arne Risa	NOR	9:07.2	9:07.31	Q
5	9	John Jackson	GBR	9:11.4	9:11.33
6	10	Conrad Nightingale	USA	9:13.2	9:13.23
7	8	Tadesse Wolde-Medhin	ETH	9:13.2	9:13.24
8	5	Manuel Oliveira	POR	9:19.2	9:19.22
9	1	Klaus-Ludwig Brosius	FRG	9:24.0	9:23.98
10	11	János Szabó	HUN	9:25.8	9:25.82
11	4	Pedro Miranda	MEX	9:26.0	9:25.95
12	6	Domingo Amaisón	ARG	9:43.0	9:43.06
DNF	–	Larbi Oukada	MAR	–	–		1

Splits

1000m	2:59.4	Pedro Miranda
2000m	6:02.7	Benjamin Kogo

Heat Two

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Jean-Paul Villain	FRA	9:01.2	9:01.12	Q
2	9	George Young	USA	9:02.2	9:01.49	Q
3	8	Kerry O'Brien	AUS	9:02.4	9:02.31	Q
4	12	Viktor Kudinsky	URS	9:05.2	9:05.25	Q
5	5	Willi Wagner	FRG	9:24.4	9:24.49		2
6	13	Labidi Ayachi	TUN	9:24.6	9:24.62		3
7	1	Nobuyoshi Miura	JPN	9:33.0	9:32.95		4
8	7	Maurice Herriott	GBR	9:34.6	9:34.68		5
9	11	Albertino Etchechury	URU	9:35.6	9:35.61		6
10	6	Eddy Van Butsele	BEL	9:38.8	9:38.79		7
11	3	Jan Cych	POL	9:50.8	9:50.78		8
12	10	Hans Menet	SUI	10:02.0	10:02.06		9
13	4	Efraín Cordero	ESA	–	11:19.23		10
DQ	14	Mariano Haro	ESP	[9:16.0]	[9:15.93]		11

Splits

1000m	2:52.8	Jean-Paul Villain
2000m	5:58.0	Jean-Paul Villain

Heat Three

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Amos Biwott	KEN	8:49.4	8:49.39	Q
2	9	Mihail Zhelev	BUL	9:01.0	9:01.96	Q
3	10	Gaston Roelants	BEL	9:08.2	9:08.29	Q
4	6	Aleksandr Morozov	URS	9:08.4	9:08.45	Q
5	7	Bill Reilly	USA	9:10.4	9:10.35
6	5	Peter Welsh	NZL	9:13.8	9:13.80
7	12	Gareth Bryan-Jones	GBR	9:16.8	9:16.86
8	2	Jan-Erik Karlsson	SWE	9:19.6	9:19.64
9	4	Taketsugu Saruwatari	JPN	9:26.2	9:26.30
10	1	Heinz-Gerd Mölders	FRG	9:32.2	9:32.22
11	11	Umberto Risi	ITA	9:44.0	9:43.97
12	6	Julio Quevedo	GUA	9:48.4	9:48.37
DNF	13	Guy Texereau	FRA	–	–

Splits

1000m	2:44.8	Amos Biwott
2000m	5:49.0	Amos Biwott

Final (16 October 1968 — 17:20)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Amos Biwott	KEN	8:51.0	8:51.02
2	8	Benjamin Kogo	KEN	8:51.6	8:51.56
3	4	George Young	USA	8:51.8	8:51.86
4	9	Kerry O'Brien	AUS	8:52.0	8:52.08
5	12	Aleksandr Morozov	URS	8:55.8	8:55.61
6	3	Mihail Zhelev	BUL	8:58.4	8:58.41
7	10	Gaston Roelants	BEL	8:59.4	8:59.50
8	5	Arne Risa	NOR	9:09.0	9:08.98
9	6	Jean-Paul Villain	FRA	9:16.2	9:16.27
10	7	Bengt Persson	SWE	9:20.6	9:20.61
11	11	Javier Álvarez	ESP	9:24.6	9:24.51
DNF	2	Viktor Kudinsky	URS	–	–

Splits

1000m	3:04.2	Benjamin Kogo
2000m	6:03.2	Gaston Roelants