Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase


The men's 3000 metres steeplechase was the only steeplechase on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 15 October and 17 October 1964. 30 athletes from 19 nations entered, with 1 not starting in the first round. The first round was held on 15 October and the final on 17 October.
New Olympic records for the event were set in two of the three heats as well as in the final, for a total of three out of four races resulting in a new record.

Results

First round

The top three runners in each of the 3 heats as well as the fastest remaining runner advanced.

First round, heat 1

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Manuel Oliveira8:40.8
2Ivan Belyayev8:42.0
3Ben Assou El Ghazi8:42.8
4Vic Zwolak8:43.6
5Zenji Okuzawa8:50.0
6Slavko Špan8:57.6
7József Mácsár9:08.8
8Dieter Hartmann9:09.2
9Jean Toffey Ekonian9:47.4
—Bengt PerssoonDid not start

First round, heat 2

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Maurice Herriott8:33.0 OR
2Lars-Erik Gustafsson8:34.2
3George L. Young8:34.2
4Guy Texereau8:34.6
5Lazar Naroditsky8:43.0
6Alfred Döring8:43.2
7Taketsugu Saruwatari8:46.6
8Edward Szklarczyk8:48.0
9Labidi Ayachi9:02.0
10Cahit Onel9:15.6

First round, heat 3

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Adolfas Aleksejūnas8:31.8 OR
2Gaston Roelants8:33.8
3Ernie Pomfret8:45.2
4Jeffrey Fishback8:50.2
5Benjamin Kogo8:51.0
6Rainer Dörner8:55.0
7Attila Simon8:57.8
8Trevor Vincent8:58.8
9Saburo Yokomizo9:04.6
10Dilbagh Singh Kler9:18.8

Final

Alexeiunas could not match his record-setting pace from the heats, falling to 7th in the final. Herriott, who had set the record Alexeiunas had broken, improved on his own time but could not reach Alexeiunas's record as he placed second. Roelants, the world record-holder who had run behind Alexeiunas in the heat, turned out victorious in the final, breaking the Soviet's record by a full second to set a third new record in the event.
PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Gaston Roelants8:30.8 OR
2Maurice Herriott8:32.4
3Ivan Belyayev8:33.8
4Manuel Oliveira8:36.2
5George L. Young8:38.2
6Guy Texereau8:38.6
7Adolf Alexeiunas8:39.0
8Lars-Erik Gustafsson8:41.8
9Ben Assou El Ghazi8:43.6
10Ernie Pomfret8:43.8