Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase
The Men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 16–18 August at the Beijing Olympic Stadium.
The qualifying standards were 8:24.60 and 8:32.00.
Brimin Kipruto, who won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, became the seventh Kenyan runner in a row to win this event at the Olympics. In total Kenya won nine gold medals in the 3000m steeplechase since 1968, but none of those medalists was ever able to defend his title.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.
Results
Round 1
| Heat | Position | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Bouabdellah Tahri | 8:23.42 | Q | |
| 1 | 2 | Brimin Kiprop Kipruto | 8:23.53 | Q | |
| 1 | 3 | Abdelkader Hachlaf | 8:23.62 | Q | |
| 1 | 4 | Tareq Mubarak Taher | 8:23.66 | Q | |
| 1 | 5 | Nahom Mesfin | 8:23.82 | ||
| 1 | 6 | Ildar Minshin | 8:26.85 | ||
| 1 | 7 | Tomasz Szymkowiak | 8:29.37 | ||
| 1 | 8 | Rabia Makhloufi | 8:29.74 | ||
| 1 | 9 | Yoshitaka Iwamizu | 8:29.80 | ||
| 1 | 10 | Valērijs Žolnerovičs | 8:37.65 | ||
| 1 | 11 | Alberto Paulo | 8:39.11 | ||
| 1 | 12 | Rubén Palomeque | 8:58.50 | ||
| 1 | Matteo Villani | DNF | |||
| 2 | 1 | Yacob Jarso | 8:16.88 | Q, PB | |
| 2 | 2 | Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad | 8:16.95 | Q, SB | |
| 2 | 3 | Anthony Famiglietti | 8:17.34 | Q, PB | |
| 2 | 4 | Ezekiel Kemboi | 8:17.55 | Q | |
| 2 | 5 | Mustafa Mohamed | 8:17.80 | q | |
| 2 | 6 | Youcef Abdi | 8:17.97 | q, PB | |
| 2 | 7 | Ion Luchianov | 8:18.97 | q, NR | |
| 2 | 8 | Boštjan Buc | 8:21.24 | ||
| 2 | 9 | Brahim Taleb | 8:23.09 | ||
| 2 | 10 | Andrew Lemoncello | 8:36.06 | ||
| 2 | 11 | William Nelson | 8:36.66 | ||
| 2 | 12 | José Luis Blanco | 8:37.37 | ||
| 2 | 13 | Ali Ahmed Al-Amri | 9:09.73 | ||
| 2 | Jukka Keskisalo | DNS | |||
| 3 | 1 | Ruben Ramolefi | 8:19.86 | Q, PB | |
| 3 | 2 | Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong | 8:19.87 | Q | |
| 3 | 3 | Benjamin Kiplagat | 8:20.22 | Q | |
| 3 | 4 | Abubaker Ali Kamal | 8:21.85 | Q | |
| 3 | 5 | Eliseo Martín | 8:23.19 | SB | |
| 3 | 6 | Hamid Ezzine | 8:27.45 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Vincent Zouaoui Dandrieaux | 8:27.91 | ||
| 3 | 8 | Roba Gary | 8:28.27 | ||
| 3 | 9 | Joshua McAdams | 8:33.26 | ||
| 3 | 10 | Pavel Potapovich | 8:36.29 | ||
| 3 | 11 | Pieter Desmet | 8:37.99 | ||
| 3 | 12 | Halil Akkaş | 8:44.70 | ||
| 3 | 13 | Itai Maggidi | 9:05.02 |
Legend: Q=Qualified top 4 in heat; q=Qualified by time; DNF=Did Not Finish; DNS=Did Not Start; DQ=Disqualified; NR=National Record; PB=Personal Best; SB=Season Best
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Brimin Kiprop Kipruto | 8:10.34 | SB | ||
| Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad | 8:10.49 | PB | ||
| Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong | 8:11.01 | |||
| 4 | Yacob Jarso | 8:13.47 | NR | |
| 5 | Bouabdellah Tahri | 8:14.79 | ||
| 6 | Youcef Abdi | 8:16.36 | PB | |
| 7 | Ezekiel Kemboi | 8:16.38 | ||
| 8 | Abubaker Ali Kamal | 8:16.59 | ||
| 9 | Benjamin Kiplagat | 8:20.27 | ||
| 10 | Mustafa Mohamed | 8:20.69 | ||
| 11 | Tareq Mubarak Taher | 8:21.59 | ||
| 12 | Ion Luchianov | 8:27.82 | ||
| 13 | Anthony Famiglietti | 8:31.21 | ||
| 14 | Ruben Ramolefi | 8:34.58 | ||
| 15 | Abdelkader Hachlaf | 9:02.06 |