Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy president, West Asian Athletics Asocciation president, and Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA) president, congratulated the royal leadership after Winfred Mutile Yavi won the bronze medal in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Winfred’s win came only a few days after the Bahrain Athletics team won first place in the West Asian Athletics Championship.
Shaikh Khalid hailed His Majesty King Hamad, HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander, First Deputy Prime Minister, and Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs representative, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president, for their support to athletics.
“Winfred has succeeded in several occasions. This wouldn’t have been achieved without her efforts in the training sessions and foreign camps as well as her fighting spirit,” Shaikh Khalid said.
He stressed that Winfred is a source of pride for all Bahrainis and her achievement makes her strong contender in the coming Asian Games which will be held in Indonesia.
Having won her qualifying heat, Winfred was tagged as one of the leading contenders heading into the highly competitive medal round, and she lived up to the expectations by claiming a spot on the podium.
Winfred completed the race in a time of nine minutes 23.47 seconds, dropping a couple of places only in the final stages after leading with a slow pace as the 15-runner field approached only four laps to go.
But in the final kilometre, Kenya’s Celliphine Chespol stepped on the gas and clinched the gold medal virtually unbothered in a championship record time of 9:12.78. Peruth Chemutai of Uganda came away with the silver medal in 9:18.87.