3,000 metres Steeplechase, Men

By now, it was established that a Kenyan would win and the favorite was Moses Kiptanui. He had won the World Championships in 1991, 1993, and 1995, and in August 1995, at the Weltklasse Meet in Zürich, he had become the first man to run the steeplechase in under eight minutes. In the final he took the lead on the first lap and would lead for most of the race. At the halfway point, the three Kenyans, Kiptanui, Joseph Keter, and Matthew Birir went clear and ran a team race throughout. At 2,000 metres they were joined by Italy’s Alessandro Lambruschini. On the final lap, Lambruschini could not keep up when Keter and Kiptanui powered ahead, Kiptanui leading to the last water jump. On the final straight, Keter ran down Kip to win the gold medal, with a stunning last lap of 59.4. Lambruschini won the bronze medal after two fourth-place Olympic finishes, Birir having struggled to maintain the pace on the last lap.