<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>EX-31.1
<SEQUENCE>3
<FILENAME>l02020aexv31w1.txt
<DESCRIPTION>EX-31.1 CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302
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<PAGE>


                                                                  EXHIBIT 31.1

                CERTIFICATION OF THE PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER

                     PURSUANT TO 15 U.S.C. 78M(A) OR 78O(D)
                 (SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002)

I, Michael D. Siegal, the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Olympic Steel,
Inc. (the "Company"), certify that:

     (1)  I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of the Company;

     (2)  Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
          untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
          necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
          under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
          the period covered by this quarterly report;

     (3)  Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
          information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
          material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
          cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in
          this quarterly report;

     (4)  The Company's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
          defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
          control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
          13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Company and we have:

     (a)  designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
          disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
          supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
          Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
          by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
          which this quarterly report is being prepared;

     (b)  designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
          such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
          our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the


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               reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of
               financial statements for external purposes in accordance with
               generally accepted accounting principles;

          (c)  evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls
               and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our
               conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
               and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
               quarterly report based on such evaluation; and

          (d)  disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the Company's
               internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
               the Company's most recent fiscal quarter (the Company's fourth
               fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
               materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
               affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting;
               and

     (5)  The Company's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
          our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
          reporting, to the Company's auditors and the audit committee of the
          Company's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
          function):

          (a)  all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
               design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
               which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company's
               ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
               information; and

          (b)  any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
               other employees who have a significant role in the Company's
               internal control over financial reporting.


By: /s/ Michael D. Siegal
    ----------------------------------
Michael D. Siegal
Olympic Steel, Inc.
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
August 13, 2003


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