During meetings this week in Lausanne, Switzerland, the executive board of the International Olympic Committee accepted an IAAF request to include the women's 3,000m steeplechase at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

The inaugural Olympic women's steeplechase will occur during the 20th year of women's international steeplechase competition. The women's steeplechase was included at a World Outdoor Championships for the first time earlier this summer in Helsinki, Finland, where Docus Inzikuru of Uganda won the gold medal in 9 minutes, 18.24 seconds. Four-time U.S. champion Elizabeth Jackson was the fastest American in the final, placing ninth in 9:46.72.

For more information on the women's steeplechase being added to the Olympic program, visit www.iaaf.org.