Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

The men's 3000 metres steeplechase was the only steeplechase on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 15 October and 17 October 1964. 30 athletes from 19 nations entered, with 1 not starting in the first round. The first round was held on 15 October and the final on 17 October.

Men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Dates	15–17 October
Competitors	30 from 19 nations
Winning time	8:30.8 OR
Medalists
Gaston Roelants  Belgium Maurice Herriott  Great Britain Ivan Belyayev  Soviet Union

New Olympic records for the event were set in two of the three heats as well as in the final, for a total of three out of four races resulting in a new record.

Results

First round

The top three runners in each of the 3 heats as well as the fastest remaining runner advanced.

First round, heat 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Manuel Oliveira	Portugal	8:40.8
2	Ivan Belyayev	Soviet Union	8:42.0
3	Ben Assou El Ghazi	Morocco	8:42.8
4	Vic Zwolak	United States	8:43.6
5	Zenji Okuzawa	Japan	8:50.0
6	Slavko Špan	Yugoslavia	8:57.6
7	József Mácsár	Hungary	9:08.8
8	Dieter Hartmann	United Team of Germany	9:09.2
9	Jean Toffey Ekonian	Ivory Coast	9:47.4
—	Bengt Perssoon	Sweden	Did not start

First round, heat 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Maurice Herriott	Great Britain	8:33.0 OR
2	Lars-Erik Gustafsson	Sweden	8:34.2
3	George L. Young	United States	8:34.2
4	Guy Texereau	France	8:34.6
5	Lazar Naroditsky	Soviet Union	8:43.0
6	Alfred Döring	United Team of Germany	8:43.2
7	Taketsugu Saruwatari	Japan	8:46.6
8	Edward Szklarczyk	Poland	8:48.0
9	Labidi Ayachi	Tunisia	9:02.0
10	Cahit Onel	Turkey	9:15.6

First round, heat 3

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Adolfas Aleksejūnas	Soviet Union	8:31.8 OR
2	Gaston Roelants	Belgium	8:33.8
3	Ernie Pomfret	Great Britain	8:45.2
4	Jeffrey Fishback	United States	8:50.2
5	Benjamin Kogo	Kenya	8:51.0
6	Rainer Dörner	United Team of Germany	8:55.0
7	Attila Simon	Hungary	8:57.8
8	Trevor Vincent	Australia	8:58.8
9	Saburo Yokomizo	Japan	9:04.6
10	Dilbagh Singh Kler	Malaysia	9:18.8

Final

Alexeiunas could not match his record-setting pace from the heats, falling to 7th in the final. Herriott, who had set the record Alexeiunas had broken, improved on his own time but could not reach Alexeiunas's record as he placed second. Roelants, the world record-holder who had run behind Alexeiunas in the heat, turned out victorious in the final, breaking the Soviet's record by a full second to set a third new record in the event.

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Gaston Roelants	Belgium	8:30.8 OR
2	Maurice Herriott	Great Britain	8:32.4
3	Ivan Belyayev	Soviet Union	8:33.8
4	Manuel Oliveira	Portugal	8:36.2
5	George L. Young	United States	8:38.2
6	Guy Texereau	France	8:38.6
7	Adolf Alexeiunas	Soviet Union	8:39.0
8	Lars-Erik Gustafsson	Sweden	8:41.8
9	Ben Assou El Ghazi	Morocco	8:43.6
10	Ernie Pomfret	Great Britain	8:43.8