The women's 3000m steeplechase became an Olympic event in 2008.
Its Olympic debut took place at the Beijing Games, with heats on 15 August and the final on 17 August at the National Stadium. Russia's Gulnara Samitova-Galkina won the inaugural final in 8:58.81, becoming the first woman to break nine minutes for the event and setting a world record.
Steeplechase races combine distance running with barriers and a water jump. The 3000m version has 28 fixed barriers and seven water jumps, unlike ordinary track races in which hurdles are designed to fall. The event developed from nineteenth-century cross-country contests inspired by horse steeplechases.
A common mix-up is confusing the women's Olympic debut with the men's. The men's 3000m steeplechase had been on the Olympic programme much earlier, while the women's event was added for Beijing 2008. The distance is also easy to misremember as 3000 metres without the obstacles, but the barriers and water jump define the discipline.