ATHLETICS – BAHRAIN’S Winfred Yavi says that she surprised herself when she struck gold with a new Olympic record in the final of the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase at Paris 2024.
The reigning world and now-Olympic champion expressed that she just wanted to win the race, and that her new Games mark was as a welcome surprise in what she describes as “a proud moment” in “one of the biggest arenas” in global sport.
“My target was just to go there, make a move, study the race, and secure first place,” Yavi told the GDN in an exclusive interview. “It was just a surprise for me. I didn’t know the time was that fast.”
Yavi won the final in a blistering eight minutes 52.76 seconds – a new Olympic record that shattered the previous best of 8:58.81, set by Russian Gulnara Samitova-Galkina in Beijing 2008.
Yavi’s mark is not only the best-ever time from any Olympics, but it is also the fourth-fastest amongst women in steeplechase history. Yavi thus now owns the second and fourth-best marks all-time, as her personal best of 8:50.66 – which she set last year and which is also an Asian and Bahrain record – is bettered only by the world record of 8:44.32, set by Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya in 2018.
Chepkoech was part of the elite opposition Yavi beat to clinch her maiden Olympic crown, and the 24-year-old Bahraini is now also looking to attack her world mark.
“It is always good to break records, and (the world record) is also my target,” Yavi said.
Yavi credits her intensive preparations and mental fortitude for her historic victory at the Paris Olympics. In the two races she ran at the Stade de France, Yavi always appeared focused and determined, and she was certainly unbeatable.
Yavi cruised to a comfortable victory in her steeplechase first-round heat in 9:15.11 to book her place in the medal round. There, she paced herself behind a lead group that included Tokyo 2021 champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda, Chepkoech and fellow-Kenyan Faith Cherotich, and Ethiopian Sembo Almayew.
Yavi continued to battle for the front towards the bell, which signals the start of the final lap, and then she applied a devastating kick to overtake Chepkoech and hunt Chemutai down along the back straight and past the last water jump.
It was then a one-on-one battle, and Yavi closed the race out with an explosive and decisive sprint, snatching the lead from Chemutai after the final barrier and erupting in celebration – ecstatic for achieving Olympic immortality.
“I was like, let me just wake up, because I felt like she was moving too fast,” Yavi said about trailing Chemutai. “I just woke up and then it was all about my mental strength. I was like, ‘I can do this’, and then I executed what I was having in my body, and I found myself at the finish line.”
Heading into 2024, winning gold at the Olympics was Yavi’s sole focus. A Games accolade was the only major international honour that had eluded her at that point in her incredible career.
She had won her maiden world title in a sensational 2023 – a year in which she also clinched her first-ever Diamond Trophy and captured a double Asian Games gold. Yavi is also an Asian, Arab, and Gulf champion and has also captured medals in the World Military Games, World Continental Cup, World U20 Championships, and so much more.
“My only goal was the Olympics this year,” explained Yavi, who is coached by the renowned Gregory Kilonzo from Kenya. “The Olympics is one of the biggest arenas in the world. It was a proud moment for me becoming an Olympic champion. It was truly incredible and I feel so grateful.
“My team supported me, we always worked together with my coach; and the fans and the Bahrain Athletics Association – they believed in me, and believing in me is the wings that makes me keep on doing this.”
Yavi says she may graduate to other distances in the future, but for now and next year, she will continue to focus on the steeplechase along with the 5,000m.
She added that she hopes to defend her Olympic title at Los Angeles 2028, but before that, also targets more gold medals at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan.
Until then, Yavi says: “I’ll keep on trusting the process, and just keep moving” – referring to the “Keep Moving” mantra she lives by.
Yavi reiterated her deepest thanks to Bahrain and her fans for the overwhelming support she has received even before the Olympics.
“I feel so special,” she said. “I’d like to say thank you – if not for the support of Bahrain and also my fans, I couldn’t be here. Their support is the wings that make me keep moving.”
Yavi is scheduled to continue her 2024 campaign later this month when she competes in the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala in Rome, Italy, on August 30, at the 70,000-capacity Stadio Olimpico. The meeting is part of this year’s Wanda Diamond League, which is the premier one-
day meeting series under World Athletics, track and field’s international governing body.
Yavi is hoping to win back-to-back Diamond Trophies in the steeplechase this year.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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