Athletics at the 1978 Commonwealth Games – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase

The men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 1978 Commonwealth Games was held on 6 and 7 August at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the Commonwealth Games

The winning margin was 5.67 seconds which as of 2024 remains the only time since the introduction of automatic timing that the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase was won by more than 5 seconds at these championships.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Henry Rono Kenya	James Munyala Kenya	Kip Rono Kenya

Results

Heats

Held on 6 August

Qualification: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualify for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2	Henry Rono	Kenya	8:26.3	Q
2	1	Kip Rono	Kenya	8:31.8	Q
3	1	John Davies	Wales	8:48.1	Q
4	1	Dennis Coates	England	8:48.4	Q
5	1	Howard Healey	New Zealand	8:48.4	Q
6	2	Anthony Staynings	England	8:50.8	Q
7	2	Euan Robertson	New Zealand	8:53.1	Q
8	2	Ian Gilmour	Scotland	8:56.5	Q
9	1	James Munyala	Kenya	8:57.9	Q
10	1	Joe Sax	Canada	8:59.2	q
11	2	John Wild	England	8:59.9	Q
12	2	Rob Evans	Canada	9:05.3	q
13	2	Dean Childs	Canada	9:09.77
14	2	Paul Lawther	Northern Ireland	9:19.20

Final

Held on 7 August

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Henry Rono	Kenya	8:26.54
	James Munyala	Kenya	8:32.21
	Kip Rono	Kenya	8:34.07
4	Euan Robertson	New Zealand	8:41.32
5	Howard Healey	New Zealand	8:43.75
6	Dennis Coates	England	8:47.35
7	Anthony Staynings	England	8:48.87
8	Ian Gilmour	Scotland	8:49.68
9	John Wild	England	8:57.94
10	John Davies	Wales	9:01.95
11	Rob Evans	Canada	9:06.43
12	Joe Sax	Canada	9:15.27

References

• Heats results (The Canberra Times)
• Final results (The Canberra Times)
• Australian results