By Nick Mulvenney
TOKYO (Reuters) – Kenya’s Faith Cherotich overhauled defending champion Winfred Yavi on an incident-packed last lap to win the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase gold at the world championships on Wednesday.
Still only 21, Cherotich added her first world title to the world bronze she won as a teenager in Budapest two years ago and the Olympic bronze she won in Paris last year.
Cherotich nailed a hurdle that Bahrain’s Yavi stumbled over on the final run down the back straight and soared over the last water jump before her kick took her to the tape.
She crossed the line in eight minutes 51.59 seconds – the fastest time ever at a worlds – after a race run at a good pace despite the suffocating humidity at the National Stadium.
“I am so happy to win today. Improving from bronze to gold is amazing to me,” Cherotich said.
“I believed in my kick. In the last 400, I said, ‘This is my moment.’ I remember my coach told me, ‘Faith, you can do it’. He told me to not be afraid and to follow the best no matter who the best is, and I might be the winner.”
Olympic champion Yavi took silver in 8:56.46, while bronze went to Ethiopian 20-year-old Sembo Almayew in a personal best time of 8:58.86.
“In the last 200 metres, I was feeling strong, and I tried to run to the finish, but I didn’t manage to keep my speed,” said 25-year-old Kenyan-born Yavi.
“I was challenged today (but) I am still young, I hope I can win the world title again in two years and more titles in the future.”
Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai, who won Olympic gold at the same stadium in 2021 and silver in Paris, failed to finish after a fall at a hurdle towards the end of the race.
But for the steamy conditions, Beatrice Chepkoech’s world record of 8.44.32 might have been under threat given the pace that the leading contenders set from the start.
Chemutai and 2022 world champion Norah Jeruto pushed out in front as seven runners, including the three medallists, moved well clear of the rest of the field.
Yavi might feel she made her break too early as she hit the front with just over two laps to go and Cherotich tucked in behind her waiting to pounce.
Jeruto and Kenyan Doris Lemngole fell on the last water jump, allowing Almayew to sweep past them and claim her first senior global medal.
“My legs are hurting now, they feel like fire,” she said. “It was a hard race and to grab this bronze was not so easy.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)
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