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Steeplechase |
The steeplechase was initially a form of horse-racing, but the term is now applied to similar other events as well.
Steeplechase in Horse-racing
The steeplechase is a form of horse-racing (primarily conducted in the United
Kingdom) and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course
was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally
traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.
It is a term now used to refer to a distance horse race with diverse fence and ditch obstacles; the most famous of these is the English Grand National run at Aintree race course.
History
The steeplechase originated in Ireland in the 18th century as an analogue to
cross-country horse races which went from town steeple to town steeple, hence
"steeplechase". The first steeplechase was alleged to have been the
result of a wager in 1752 and involved a race between the church steeples of
Doneraile and Buttevant, towns in Cork, Ireland. Most of the earlier steeplechases
were contested cross-country rather than on a track and resembled English cross
country as it exists today.
Steeplechase in Track and Field
The steeplechase is also an obstacle race in athletics (track and field), which
derives its name from the horse-racing equivalent.
Rules
The length of the race is usually 3000 m, seven and one half laps of the track.
In the first half lap runners encounter no barriers. In each subsequent lap
the runners encounter five hurdles. According to IAAF rules, hurdle height is
914 mm (36 in) for men and 762 mm (30 in) for women. Unlike those used in hurdling,
steeplechase hurdles do not fall over if hit; some runners actually step on
top of them. Four of the hurdles are on level ground, and the fifth hurdle at
the top of the second turn (fourth hurdle in a complete lap from the finish
line) is the water jump, which consists of a hurdle followed by a pit of water
which is 3.66 m (12 ft) long and slopes upward from 700 mm (27.6 in) deep at
the hurdle end to even with the surface of the track. This slope rewards runners
with more jumping ability, for they land in more shallow water. Most runners
can completely "clear" (jump over) the water pit, and the majority
of runners step onto this barrier and then jump rather than hurdling it.
History
The steeplechase (at varying distances) has been an Olympic event since the
inception of the modern Olympics. Since the 1968 Summer Olympics the steeplechase
in the Olympics has been dominated by Kenyan athletes, including a sweep of
the medals at the 2004 Games.
The steeplechase for women (3,000 metres long, but with lower barriers than for the men) made its first major championship appearance at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.
Records
The official world record in the 3000 m steeplechase for men is held by Saif
Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar (formerly Stephen Cherono of Kenya) at 7:53.63 and was
set on September 3, 2004 during the Ivo Van Damme Memorial in Brussels. On August
16, 2002 Brahim Boulami of Morocco ran 7:53.17 but as of September 2004 this
was still awaiting ratification from the IAAF. Said ratification is likely not
forthcoming, as Boulami is only now (2005) returning to competition after a
two year ban for testing positive for EPO.
The first person to run steeplechase in under eight minutes was a Kenyan by the name of Moses Kiptanui.
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