Tunisia's Habiba Ghribi returned to defend her 2012 Olympic steeplechase title, though she was outside the top 15 runners on the seasonal lists.

The 2015 World Champion Hyvin Jepkemoi of Kenya was four hundredths of a second behind her in that race and had become the third fastest, while America's Emma Coburn had set a national record and was third ranked entering the competition.

[2] Before the competition even began, entrant Silvia Danekova failed a doping test after her arrival in Rio.

[3] In the first round Jebet broke clear of the pack, ran her own race, and easily won her heat over Assefa and Krause.

Jepkemoi won the third and slowest heat, with Genevieve LaCaze and Courtney Frerichs taking the automatic qualifying spots.

Forgetting about Jebet, Jepkemoi used her best sprinting to beat Coburn to the line by a half second for silver.

Ruth Jebet has been suspended since February 2018 for testing positive for EPO, although her Olympic results are unaffected.