Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

These are the official results of the Men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The competition was held on July 25, 1976, and on July 28, 1976.[1]

Men's 3000 metres steeplechase
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates25 July 1976 (qualifying)
28 July 1976 (final)
Competitors24 from 16 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Anders Gärderud  Sweden
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Bronisław Malinowski  Poland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Frank Baumgartl  East Germany
← 1972
1980 →

Summary

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The final was held on July 28, 1976. Contrary to many other Olympic middle- and long-distance Olympic finals, this final was fast from the start. Finland's Tapio Kantanen, the defending Olympic bronze medalist from the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, took the lead after the start. About one lap later, Britain's Dennis Coates briefly moved into the lead, before Spain's Antonio Campos passed him. Leading the 12-man field through 1,000 metres in 2:43.57, Campos kept up the fast pace.

With about 3.5 laps left, Poland's Bronislaw Malinowski took the lead. Before 2,000 metres, which Malinowski passed in 5:29.07, the lead group was reduced to four men: Malinowski, East Germany's Frank Baumgartl, Sweden's Anders Gärderud, and Finland's Kantanen. West Germany's Michael Karst, the defending European Championships bronze medalist from Rome in 1974, rose to the fifth place, and tried unsuccessfully to pursue the lead group. With about 600 metres left, Kantanen began to struggle, and he dropped decisively from the lead group early on the last back straight. Around the same time, Gärderud sprinted past Malinowski - the exact reverse of what Malinowski had managed to do in Rome in 1974. Baumgartl fought hard with Malinowski for the second place, and was able to pass the Polish steeplechaser fully by early on the final bend. After the last water barrier, Baumgartl launched his final kick, and closed the gap on Gärderud.

As the leading duo jumped to the last barrier, Baumgartl appeared to be in a slight lead. However, the East German steeplechaser timed his last jump a bit too late, hitting the final barrier with his right knee. As Baumgartl fell to the track, Gärderud was able to sprint into a wider lead over Malinowski, who had to jump over the fallen East German. Although Kantanen saw Baumgartl's fall, he was at least ten metres too far to pass the East German, who very quickly got up, and sprinted remarkably quickly towards the finish line. All the top four runners set their personal and national records, while Gärderud set also the world, Olympic, European, and Nordic (or Scandinavian) record in this distance. Gärderud's Olympic record would last until 1988, when Kenya's Julius Kariuki broke it in the Seoul Summer Olympics.

However, Kariuki's countryman Henry Rono set a new world record at this distance already in 1978 in Seattle. (Hannus, Matti, The Montreal Olympic Book, Helsinki, Finland, 1976;

Records

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Prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

World record   Anders Gärderud (SWE) 8:09.70 Stockholm, Sweden 1 July 1975
Olympic record   Kipchoge Keino (KEN) 8:23.64 Munich, West Germany 7 September 1972

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition:

Date Event Athlete Time Notes
25 July 1976 Qualifying   Bronisław Malinowski (POL) 8:18.56 OR
28 July 1976 Final   Anders Gärderud (SWE) 8:08.02 WR, OR

The following national records were established during the competition:

Country Athlete Round Time
Poland   Bronisław Malinowski (POL) Final 8:09.11

Results

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Heats

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Held on 25 July 1976. Note: Top six in each heat (Q) advanced to the final.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nationality Time Notes
1 Bronisław Malinowski   Poland 8:18.56 Q, OR
2 Frank Baumgartl   East Germany 8:21.25 Q
3 Anders Gärderud   Sweden 8:21.43 Q
4 Antonio Campos   Spain 8:24.53 Q
5 Ismo Toukonen   Finland 8:27.96 Q
6 Henry Marsh   United States 8:31.46 Q
7 Jean-Paul Villain   France 8:35.03
8 John Bicourt   Great Britain 8:35.71
9 Willi Maier   West Germany 8:44.82
10 Peter Larkins   Australia 8:46.89
11 Ágúst Ásgeirsson   Iceland 8:53.95
Gerd Frähmcke   West Germany DNF

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nationality Time Notes
1 Dennis Coates   Great Britain 8:18.95 Q
2 Tapio Kantanen   Finland 8:20.82 Q
3 Dan Glans   Sweden 8:23.73 Q
4 Michael Karst   West Germany 8:25.02 Q
5 Euan Robertson   New Zealand 8:26.31 Q
6 Tony Staynings   Great Britain 8:29.21 Q
7 Paul Thys   Belgium 8:31.55
8 Doug Brown   United States 8:33.25
9 Takaharu Koyama   Japan 8:37.28
10 Mike Roche   United States 8:37.36
11 Dušan Moravčík   Czechoslovakia 8:41.95
12 Gheorghe Cefan   Romania 8:57.22

Final

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Rank Athlete Nationality Time Notes
  Anders Gärderud   Sweden 8:08.02 WR
  Bronisław Malinowski   Poland 8:09.11 NR
  Frank Baumgartl   East Germany 8:10.36 NR
4 Tapio Kantanen   Finland 8:12.60 NR
5 Michael Karst   West Germany 8:20.14
6 Euan Robertson   New Zealand 8:21.08
7 Dan Glans   Sweden 8:21.53
8 Antonio Campos   Spain 8:22.65
9 Dennis Coates   Great Britain 8:22.99
10 Henry Marsh   United States 8:23.99
11 Tony Staynings   Great Britain 8:33.66
12 Ismo Toukonen   Finland 8:42.74

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal: Men's 3,000 metres Steeplechase". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
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