Yavi sets new Olympic record to win the 3000m steeplechase in Paris
PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 06: Gold medalist and new Olympic record holder Winfred Yavi of Team Bahrain celebrates after winning the Women's 3000m Steeplechase Final on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 06, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
2024.08.08
Winfred Yavi of Bahrain won the deepest women’s 3000m steeplechase race in history on Tuesday (6), adding the Olympic championship to her global crown at the Paris 2024 Games.
The 24-year-old ran 8:52.76, breaking the Olympic mark established when the event debuted for women in 2008, depriving Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai a second consecutive Olympic title.
Chemutai held on to win silver in a national record time of 8:53.34, while Kenya’s Faith Cherotich took bronze in a personal best time of 8:55.15, her second global senior medal after the World Championships in Budapest last year.
France’s Alice Finot finished fourth in a European record time of 8:58.67, eliciting loud shouts from the home audience. It is the first time four women have run under nine minutes in the same event, with third through 12th placings receiving the highest scores.
Yavi’s victory time of 8:52.76 is the fourth fastest of all time, a mark only she and Chepkoech have surpassed. Chepkoech established her world record of 8:44.32 in Monaco in 2018, however Yavi won in Eugene last September in 8:50.66, beating Chepkoech (8:51.67).
Cherotich, Finot, Almayew (9:00.83), and Chepkoech (9:04.24) were the next runners to cross the line in Paris, as the top ten all finished under 9:10.00. Elizabeth Bird established a British record of 9:04.35 in seventh place, while Ethiopia’s Lomi Muleta finished eighth, Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto ninth, and Germany’s Lea Meyer tenth.
@charith rajapaksha
