This event is believed to be a homegrown British sport with its origins in a race run from one town's steeple to the next, with participants having to clear any obstacles encountered on the way.
The steeplechase is an obstacle race that usually covers 3,000m or seven laps of the track. Over this distance, participants must jump 28 barriers and clear seven water jumps. Athletes benefit from working on their jumping skills as a longer jump on a water jump means a faster return to level ground. Since the late 1960s the steeplechase has been dominated by Kenyan athletes, who won all the steeplechase medals at the Olympic Games in 2004. It is a relatively new event for women. The women's steeplechase (which has lower barriers) was first staged on a championship level at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, and became part of the Olympic programme in 2008.
Statistics
The men's world record for the 3,000m steeplechase is held by Saif Saaeed Shaheen, with a time of 7:53.63 set in Brussels in 2004.
The first person to run the steeplechase in under 8 minutes was Kenyan athlete Moses Kiptanui of Kenya, with a time of 7:59.18, set in 1995 in Zürich.
The women's world record for the 3,000m steeplechase is held by Gulnara Galkina-Samitova (RUS), with a time of 8:58.81, set at the 2008 Olympics.