What Is The History Of Steeplechase In Athletics?

Steeplechase originated in Ireland, and shares a history with the horse racing event that shares its name. Back then, riders on horseback would race each other from one town to another – with the steeples used as convenient markers because of their visibility over large distances.

The current event, in terms of athletics, can be traced back to a two mile (3.2km) cross country steeplechase-style event that happened at the University of Oxford during the middle of the 19th century. In 1865, this became an event where runners ran across a flat field containing barriers. It was legitimised as a track event at the 1879 English Championships.

Steeplechase has featured as an Olympic event for men, in some form or other, since the early days of the modern-day Olympic period. It first featured as a 3,000m event at the 1920 Games. From 1968 onwards, the Olympic Steeplechase event has been dominated by Kenyan athletes. Rather remarkably, Kenya has picked up gold at every Olympic Men’s Steeplechase event since 1984. This gold medal winning streak includes podium clean sweeps at Barcelona 1992 and Athens 2004.

Steeplechase, as a women’s event, made its Olympic Games debut at Beijing 2008. The women’s steeplechase event is identical to the men’s in that it’s run over 3,000m, but differs in that the barriers used are slightly lower. At the highest level, the women’s steeplechase is still very much in its infancy. Russia have won gold at both of the Olympics in which it’s featured (Gulnara Samitova-Galkina – 2008, Yuliya Zaripova – 2012).

Steeplechase At The Olympics – Medal Winners

Men’s Steeplechase

1920 – Antwerp

• Gold – Percy Hodge (GBR)
• Silver – Patrick Flynn (USA)
• Bronze – Ernesto Ambrosini (ITA)

1924 – Paris

• Gold – Ville Ritola (FIN)
• Silver – Elias Katz (FIN)
• Bronze – Paul Bontemps (FRA)

1928 – Amsterdam

• Gold – Toivo Loukola (FIN)
• Silver – Paavo Nurmi (FIN)
• Bronze – Ove Andersen (FIN)

1932 – Los Angeles

• Gold – Volmari Iso-Hollo (FIN)
• Silver – Thomas Evenson (GBR)
• Bronze – Joe McCluskey (USA)

1936 – Berlin

• Gold – Volmari Iso-Hollo (FIN)
• Silver – Kalle Tuominen (FIN)
• Bronze – Alfred Dompert (GER)

1948 – London

• Gold – Tore Sjöstrand (SWE)
• Silver – Erik Elmsäter (SWE)
• Bronze – Göte Hagström (SWE)

1952 – Helsinki

• Gold – Horace Ashenfelter (USA)
• Silver – Vladimir Kazantsev (URS)
• Bronze – John Disley (GBR)

1956 – Melbourne

• Gold – Chris Brasher (GBR)
• Silver – Sándor Rozsnyói (HUN)
• Bronze – Ernst Larsen (NOR)

1960 – Rome

• Gold – Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak (POL)
• Silver – Nikolay Sokolov (URS)
• Bronze – Semyon Rzhishchin (URS)

1964 – Tokyo

• Gold – Gaston Roelants (BEL)
• Silver – Maurice Herriott (GBR)
• Bronze –  Ivan Belyayev (URS)

1968 – Mexico City

• Gold – Amos Biwott (KEN)
• Silver – Benjamin Kogo (KEN)
• Bronze – George Young (USA)

1972 – Munich

• Gold – Kipchoge Keino (KEN)
• Silver – Ben Jipcho (KEN)
• Bronze – Tapio Kantanen (FIN)

7) Belgium (BEL)

• Gold – 1
• Silver – 0
• Bronze – 0
• Overall – 1

8) France (FRA)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 3
• Bronze – 1
• Overall – 4

9) Soviet Union (URS)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 2
• Bronze – 2
• Overall – 4

10) = Hungary (HUN)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 1
• Bronze – 0
• Overall – 1

10) = Tanzania (TAN)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 1
• Bronze – 0
• Overall – 1

12) Italy (ITA)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 0
• Bronze – 2
• Overall – 2

13) = East Germany (GDR)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 0
• Bronze – 1
• Overall – 1

13) = Ethiopia (ETH)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 0
• Bronze – 1
• Overall – 1

13) = Germany (GER)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 0
• Bronze – 1
• Overall – 1

13) = Morocco (MAR)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 0
• Bronze – 1
• Overall – 1

13) = Norway (NOR)

• Gold – 0
• Silver – 0
• Bronze – 1
• Overall – 1