| Host City: Melbourne, Australia |
Format: Top five in each heat advanced to the final. |
| Date Started: November 27, 1956 |
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| Date Finished: November 29, 1956 |
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| (Competitors: 23; Countries: 13; Finalists: 10) |
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Venue(s): Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
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| Overview by IAAF |
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| Rozsnyói and Jerzy Chromik (POL) were the favourites, but the Pole withdrew with stomach problems. Ashenfelter duplicated his 8:51.0 heat from 1952, but this time failed to qualify, placing sixth in his heat. In the final Larsen led from the gun, passing 1000m in 2:52.4, and 2000m in 5:53.6, with Rosznyói, Rzhishchin and Brasher following 4- 5m behind. Rzhishchin went to the front with two laps to go, and led at the bell in 7:39.1, with Rosznyói, Larsen, Brasher and Disley ready to pounce. Brasher went past Larsen on the inside with 300m to go, brushing the Norwegian with his right arm, and surging away from the others. Within 50m he was 10m ahead, and won by 15m from Rozsnyói, who had been the quickest to react to Brasher’s surge. Brasher was disqualified initially for his “foul” of Larsen, but then reinstated. |
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| Summary by Sports-reference.com |
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| There was finally an official world record as the IAAF recognized the steeplechase record in 1954, the first ratified mark being set by Sándor Rozsnyói (HUN) who ran 8:49.6 in winning the 1954 European Championships. That was actually slower than several other previous marks, notably the Olympic record set by Horace Ashenfelter in 1952 (8:45.4). By the time of the Melbourne Olympics, that had been bettered six times, the mark standing at 8:39.8 set by Semyon Rzhishchin in August 1956. Ashenfelter was back but would not qualify for the final. The race was a close group finish over the last lap, six runners remaining together. Norway's Ernst Larsen had taken the early lead and would not be caught until two laps remained. On the final lap, Britain's Chris Brasher saw an opening on the inside and moved past Larsen, brushing him as he did, and pulled away to win. Shortly after the finish, Brasher was initially disqualified for this move. But the disqualification was appealed and all the other runners supported Brasher, including Larsen, who said it had made no difference. Brasher is well-known among track fans as one of the pacers who supported Roger Bannister during his world record attempt in 1954 that resulted in the breaking of the four-minute mile barrier. |
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Results |
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| 3000 m steeple |
Men |
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Final |
29 November |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
| 1 |
8.41.35 |
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Chris Brasher |
Great Britain |
GBR |
28 |
OR |
8.41.2 h |
| 2 |
8.43.68 |
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Sándor Rozsnyói |
Hungary |
HUN |
25 |
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8.43.6 h |
| 3 |
8.44.05 |
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Ernst Larsen |
Norway |
NOR |
30 |
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8.44.0 h |
| 4 |
8.44.53 |
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Heinz Laufer |
Germany |
GER |
31 |
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8.44.4 h |
| 5 |
8.44.58 |
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Semyon Rzhishchin |
Soviet Union |
URS |
23 |
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8.44.6 h |
| 6 |
8.44.79 |
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John Disley |
Great Britain |
GBR |
28 |
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8.44.6 h |
| 7 |
8.50.36 |
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Neil Robbins |
Australia |
AUS |
27 |
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8.50.0 h |
| 8 |
8.57.0 |
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Eric Shirley |
Great Britain |
GBR |
27 |
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| 9 |
9.13.0 |
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Deacon Jones |
United States |
USA |
22 |
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| 3000 m steeple |
Men |
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Round One Heat One |
27 November |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
| 1 |
8.46.89 |
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Q |
Sándor Rozsnyói |
Hungary |
HUN |
25 |
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8.46.6 h |
| 2 |
8.46.93 |
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Q |
John Disley |
Great Britain |
GBR |
28 |
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8.46.6 h |
| 3 |
8.46.96 |
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Q |
Ernst Larsen |
Norway |
NOR |
30 |
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8.46.8 h |
| 4 |
8.47.57 |
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Q |
Deacon Jones |
United States |
USA |
22 |
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8.47.4 h |
| 5 |
8.48.29 |
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Q |
Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak |
Poland |
POL |
27 |
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8.48.0 h |
| 6 |
8.51.12 |
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Horace Ashenfelter |
United States |
USA |
33 |
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8.51.0 h |
| 7 |
8.54.99 |
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Vasily Vlasenko |
Soviet Union |
URS |
28 |
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8.55.0 h |
| 8 |
8.55.93 |
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Georgios Papavasileiou |
Greece |
GRE |
25 |
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8.55.6 h |
| 9 |
9.09.6 |
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Yevgeny Kadyaykin |
Soviet Union |
URS |
28 |
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| 10 |
9.09.8 |
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Graham Thomas |
Australia |
AUS |
25 |
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| 11 |
9.10.0 |
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Olavi Rinteenpää |
Finland |
FIN |
32 |
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| AC |
DNF |
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Frans Herman |
Belgium |
BEL |
29 |
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| 3000 m steeple |
Men |
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Round One Heat Two |
27 November |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
| 1 |
8.52.72 |
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Q |
Eric Shirley |
Great Britain |
GBR |
27 |
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8.52.6 h |
| 2 |
8.53.18 |
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Q |
Semyon Rzhishchin |
Soviet Union |
URS |
23 |
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8.53.0 h |
| 3 |
8.53.23 |
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Q |
Heinz Laufer |
Germany |
GER |
31 |
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8.53.0 h |
| 4 |
8.54.19 |
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Q |
Chris Brasher |
Great Britain |
GBR |
28 |
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8.53.8 h |
| 5 |
8.55.62 |
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Q |
Neil Robbins |
Australia |
AUS |
27 |
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8.55.4 h |
| 6 |
9.02.13 |
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Gunnar Karlsson-Tjörnebo |
Sweden |
SWE |
29 |
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9.02.0 h |
| 7 |
9.04.57 |
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Ilkka Auer |
Finland |
FIN |
26 |
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9.04.0 h |
| 8 |
9.04.99 |
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László Jeszenszky |
Hungary |
HUN |
29 |
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9.04.2 h |
| 9 |
9.10.0 |
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Phil Coleman |
United States |
USA |
25 |
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| 10 |
9.16.0 |
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Ron Blackney |
Australia |
AUS |
23 |
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| AC |
DNF |
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Eduardo Fontecilla |
Chile |
CHI |
27 |
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