Fans of the 3000m Steeplechase couldn’t have asked for a finer Olympic debut. With a dominating gun-to-tape performance, Gulnara Galkina-Samitova captured the event’s first Olympic gold medal with an 8:58.81 World record*, while smashing through the nine-minute barrier in the process.
Galkina-Samitova’s impressive form earlier this summer and in Friday’s opening round strongly suggested a record assault was on the cards tonight. From the outset, it was apparent that it was in her playbook. And it may have even been in the stars.
“There was a very good omen for me before the race,” said the Russian, who broke her own mark of 9:01.59 set in 2004. “20 km race walk winner Valeriy Borchin gave me his winner’s bouquet of flowers in a café yesterday, the champion’s flowers. Now I’m going to pass them on to someone else.”
Moving to the front at the gun, she was followed by Kenyans Eunice Jepkorir and Ruth Bisibori, compatriot Tatiana Petrova, and Ethiopian Zemzen Ahmed. Her blistering pace took her through the first kilometre in 2:58.63, well under record and nine-minute pace, all on her own.
With four-and-a-half laps to go, Petrova briefly moved into second, but Jepkorir, providing a glimpse of her mettle on this night, immediately reclaimed second position in an effort to maintain contact with Galkina-Samitova. But a lap later the World record holder broke the field, opening a slight gap with three laps to go, one she would extend over the next lap, splitting the race in two: one against the clock and another for the remaining two medals. Both would be extremely compelling.
Passing through the 2000m point in 6:01.20, Galkina-Samitova still had the record very much within reach, meanwhile behind her, Petrova regained the second position to work towards a Russian 1-2. But Jepkorir, head bobbing determinedly, maintained Petrova in her sights and retook second with just over one-and-a-half laps to go.
Further back, Spanish record holder Marta Dominguez made her charge toward medal contention, and by the time the bell sounded, she was in third. At the same time, World champion Yekaterina Volkova made her move and appeared to be in solid position as she approached the water jump for the final time.
Just moments earlier, Dominguez’s challenge came to a screeching and painful halt after she clipped the previous barrier with her trail leg, tumbling heavily to the track.
Well ahead, and with the time board clearly in sight, Galkina-Samitova smiled broadly as she approached the line, throwing up her arms in triumph when seeing that the nine-minute barrier had fallen.
Behind her Volkova seemed poised to take the silver, but was overtaken by a fast-fast-finishing Jepkorir, who lowered the African record to 9:07.41 to finish second.
“She took off with three laps to go,” said Jepkorir, the bronze medallist at the World championships last year. “I tried to push but she was just too fast.”
Volkova held on for bronze (9:07.64) with Petrova further back in fourth (9:12.33).
In one of the deepest races in history, Cristina Casandra lowered the Romanian record to 9:16.85 finishing fifth; African champion Zemzem Ahmed took the Ethiopian record down to 9:17.85 in seventh; and Jenny Barringer lowered her own U.S. record to 9:22.26, finishing ninth.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
* pending the usual ratification procedures
