The men's 3000 metres steeplechase was the only steeplechase

Steeplechase (athletics)

The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics, which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing.-Rules:The length of the race is usually 3000 m; junior events are 2000 m, as women's events formerly were. The circuit has four ordinary barriers and one water jump. Over 3000 m, each...

 on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics

At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the athletics competition included 36 events, 24 for men and 12 for women. The women's 400 metres and women's pentathlon events were newly introduced at these Games. There were a total number of 1016 participating athletes from 82 countries.-Men's...

 program in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. 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.

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.

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		8:40.8
2	Ivan Belyayev		8:42.0
3	Ben Assou El Ghazi		8:42.8
4	Victor Zwolak		8:43.6
5	Okuzawa Zenji		8:50.0
6	Slavko Span		8:57.6
7	Jozsef Macsar		9:08.8
8	Dieter Hartmann		9:09.2
9	Jean Ekonian Toffey		9:47.4
—	Bengt Perssoon		Did not start

First round, heat 2

Gustaffson and Young tied the old Olympic record, but Herriott beat it by 1.2 seconds.

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Maurice Herriott Maurice Herriott Maurice Herriott was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 3000 metre steeplechase.He competed for Great Britain in the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan in the 3000 metre steeple chase where he won the silver medal. He also competed in the same event at the 1968 Summer Olympics in...		8:33.0 OR
2	Lars-Erik Gustafsson		8:34.2
3	George L. Young		8:34.2
4	Guy Texereau		8:34.6
5	Lazar Naroditsky		8:43.0
6	Fred Doring		8:43.2
7	Saruwatari Taketsugu		8:46.6
8	Edward Szklarczyk		8:48.0
9	A. Labidi Taouadi		9:02.0
10	Cahit Onel		9:15.6

First round, heat 3

Herriott's Olympic record did not last long, as Alexeiunas dropped another 1.2 seconds off of the record in the very next heat.

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Adolf Alexeiunas		8:31.8 OR
2	Gaston Roelants Gaston Roelants Gaston, Baron Roelants was a top steeplechaser in the early 1960s and a great cross-country runner. At the steeplechase he won the 1962 European and 1964 Olympic titles as well as setting two world records, 8 minutes 29.6 seconds in 1963 and 8 minutes 26.4 seconds in 1965.Roelants was born in...		8:33.8
3	Ernest Pomfret		8:45.2
4	Jeffrey Fishback		8:50.2
5	Benjamin Kogo Benjamin Kogo Benjamin Kogo is retired athlete from Kenya who specialised in 3000 metre steeplechase running. He is silver medalist from 1968 Summer Olympics, in an event won by his compatriot Amos Biwott....		8:51.0
6	Rainier Dorner		8:55.0
7	Attila Simon Attila Simon Attila Simon is a Hungarian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Kecskeméti TE.Simon joined Újpest FC from Diósgyőri VTK in May 2008.-External links:*...		8:57.8
8	Trevor Vincent Trevor Vincent Trevor Anthony Vincent is a former 3000 meters steeplechase runner from Australia. In 1962 he competed for his native country at the Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia, winning the gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase event. He also competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo,...		8:58.8
9	Yokomizo Saburo		9:04.6
10	Dilbagh Singh Kler		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		8:30.8 OR
2	Maurice Herriott		8:32.4
3	Ivan Belyayev		8:33.8
4	Manuel Oliveira		8:36.2
5	George L. Young		8:38.2
6	Guy Texereau		8:38.6
7	Adolf Alexeiunas		8:39.0
8	Lars-Erik Gustafsson		8:41.8
9	Ben Assou El Ghazi		8:43.6
10	Ernest Pomfret		8:43.8