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Olympic Lifting and Track & Field
Vancouver, Canada
Tokyo 2020 Olympics 3000m Steeplechase Men result table may look like this:
| Country | Athlete Name | Position |
|---|---|---|
 Kenya |
Leonard Bett Abraham Kibiwott Benjamin Kigen |
🥈🥉🥇 🥇🥈🥉 🥈🥇🥉 |
 Morocco |
Soufiane El Bakkali | 🥈 |
 Ethiopia |
Bikila Tadese Takele | 🥇🥈 |
 France |
Djilali Bedrani | 🥉 |
 Japan |
Ryuji Miura | 🥉 |
Since the 1960s, Kenya has won every single Gold Medal in Men’s Steeplechase event for the last quite a few editions of the Olympics. However, in the absence of current world champion, Conseslus KIPRUTO, Ethiopian top Steeplechasers, Getnet Wale switching to 5000m due to tactical reasons, and Lamecha Girma missing the whole season this seems to be shifting towards a fair battle.
Do other runners stand a chance for Gold Medal at Tokyo Steeplechase?
Of course, every runner is in the field to compete and hopes to finish at the podium. The runners in the 3000m Steeplechase at Tokyo 2021 Olympics can be divided into four tiers.
Tier 1 Steeplechase runners at Tokyo 2020 Olympics 3000m SC
Tier 1 Steeplechase runners at Tokyo 2020 are missing from the competition. As mentioned earlier, Conseslus Kipruto, Lemeche Girma, Getnet Wale are missing from the competition so we move on to Tier 2 runners.
Tier 2 Steeplechase runners at Tokyo 2020 Olympics 3000m SC
The runners who still would have a chance to finish in the top 6 in Tier1 1 runner’s presence, fall in this category. Moroccan El Bakkali, Kenyan trio of Bett, Kibiwott and Kigen, Ethiopian Tadese Takele, Frenchman Djilali Bedrani fall into this category. This is the category that will snatch most of the medals.
Tier 3 Steeplechase runners at Tokyo 2020 Olympics 3000m SC
The runners in Steeplechase heats or in the finals of Tokyo games who have the capability of running around 8.10 or better and have a current PB around 8.15 fall under this category. These runners would have qualified for the Olympics without depending on the world ranking system. Ryuji Miura is a name that deserves a mention here because he is young, the competition is at home turf and he has been constantly improving his time. Is the home turf advantage real in sports? We’ll find out at the Olympic games. The chances of an athlete winning a medal from this Tier are very slim unless it is someone local and can pull a surprise.
Tier 4 Steeplechase runners at Tokyo 2020 Olympics 3000m SC
This level of athletes are those who have worked hard and either qualified through time that is very close to the 8.22 qualification standard of Olympics or through World rankings. The runners from United States, Canada, India, Germany, Great Britain fall under this category.
Who will win Kenyan Staple 3000m Men’s Steeplechase at Tokyo Olympics this time?
The question has been answered in the projected medal table. Kenyans despite having a setback in the form of missing Ace Kipruto, have been able to put together a strong team. Looking at the history of the event, the willingness of the Kenyan athletes to give it all, Kenyan teamwork, and unselfish efforts in long-distance in the previous editions, I believe Kenyans may take it again provided El Bakkali, Ethiopian trio and Frenchmen can do something about it.
Here is the full list of who is running 3000m Steeplechase at the Olympics:
Other relevant posts:
