Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 3000 metres steeplechase

The Women's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 4–6 August at the Olympic Stadium.[1]

Women's 3000 metres steeplechase at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Gold medal winner Habiba Ghribi
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	4–6 August
Competitors	44 from 26 nations
Winning time	9:08.37
Medalists
Habiba Ghribi  Tunisia Sofia Assefa  Ethiopia Milcah Chemos Cheywa  Kenya

Official Video

Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Qualification
Track events
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m	men	women
1500 m	men	women
5000 m	men	women
10,000 m	men	women
100 m hurdles		women
110 m hurdles	men
400 m hurdles	men	women
3000 m steeplechase	men	women
4×100 m relay	men	women
4×400 m relay	men	women
Road events
Marathon	men	women
20 km walk	men	women
50 km walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men	women
Triple jump	men	women
High jump	men	women
Pole vault	men	women
Shot put	men	women
Discus throw	men	women
Javelin throw	men	women
Hammer throw	men	women
Combined events
Heptathlon		women
Decathlon	men

From the gun in the final, reigning world champion Yuliya Zaripova sprinted out to the lead and dictated the pace. But rather than continuing to accelerate, she slowed, with the rest of the field bunching behind with nobody willing to go around. The pack slowly disintegrated by attrition. With 3 laps to go a group of seven had separated, including all three Ethiopians, plus Milcah Chemos Cheywa, Mercy Wanjiku Njoroge and Habiba Ghribi, all still behind Zaripova. On the 6th lap, defending champion and World Record holder Gulnara Galkina, already off the back, made a right turn and stepped off the track. The pace quickened, losing Etenesh Diro and Njoroge at the water jump. Zaripova just continued to accelerate. On the back stretch Ghribi looked to be clear of the other three but almost put her hand out so as not to pass Zaripova. From that point, Zaripova just extended her lead with Ghribi clearly in second place. Sofia Assefa broke away from her teammate Hiwot Ayalew. Down the home stretch Cheywa made a late run but Assefa held on for the bronze medal. Compared to the previous year's world championships, the first two medalists were the same, Zaripova a second faster for her personal record, Ghribi was 3 seconds faster for her Tunisian national record, and Assefa 19 seconds faster to push Cheywa off the podium.[2]

On 24 March 2016 the Court of Arbitration for Sport disqualified Yuliya Zaripova's results from 20 July 2011 to 25 July 2013 for doping, which included the Olympics.[3] On 4 June 2016, Tunisian Habiba Ghribi was awarded with the olympic gold medal in a ceremony in Rades, Tunisia, presented by IOC Vice-President Nawal El Moutawakel.[4]