ATHLETICS – Bahrain's world and Olympic champion Winfred Yavi is looking forward to spearheading an ‘iconic’ race tonight in the brand-new women’s steeplechase mile at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels, Belgium.
The meeting is part of this year’s Wanda Diamond League – the premier one-day meeting series held annually under World Athletics, track and field’s international governing body.
Yavi’s event is similar to the traditional women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase – featuring barriers and a water jump – but the mile version is a more recent development, designed by World Athletics to be faster-paced and more exciting for both spectators and athletes.
“Racing tomorrow with this brand-new mile, it is going to be an iconic race, and I am so excited to be part of making history tomorrow in Brussels,” Yavi said yesterday in the official pre-meeting Press conference.
Yavi will be gunning for a world record time in the race, which features eight other runners – including the pacemaker – and is scheduled for a 10.26pm start, Bahrain time.
The 25-year-old athletics superstar says her preparations have been positive ahead of the run. “Training has been going on really well,” she explained. “I’ve been preparing with my coach, my team, and with the support from my family.
“Coming to do this mile, I’m really prepared because it’s going to be a really fast race. I have a specific time in my mind, and about the splits, you will see tomorrow because I feel like I want to do a very fast mile – fearlessly on the barriers.
“I just want to go and execute, give it my best, and see how my body can go fast on the barriers. It’s going to be like a normal steeplechase when I start, going direct to the water barrier. I feel like it’s going to be an interesting event tomorrow and I’m happy to be part of history.”
When asked about the secret to the recent successes in her career, Yavi said: “It’s the hard work, staying positive, being ready mentally and physically in training, and following whatever coach is telling me, while keeping up with the training.
“Getting to be consistent, you need to keep on working hard every day.”
Yavi’s run tomorrow will be her final event before the Weltklasse Zurich meeting next week – the two-day finale of this year’s Wanda Diamond League, set to take place in Switzerland.
Yavi is set to feature in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase there, where she will be going for her second-ever Diamond Trophy, which she had also claimed during her world title-clinching season in 2023.
“For now, I’m just looking forward to doing this mile tomorrow because it is a brand-new event,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to putting the bar high for the other girls and also to keep on motivating other female athletes to show them that they can reach great heights.”
The other athletes in her race tonight are Celestine Jepkosgei Biwot of Kenya, Veerle Bakker of the Netherlands, Olivia Gurth of Germany, Eline Dalemans of Belgium, Wosane Asefa of Ethiopia, Stella Rutto of Romania, and Angelina Ellis and Valerie Constien, both from the US. Constien is the pacemaker.
Yavi is also gearing up to defend her world title in the World Athletics Championships 2025, to be held in Tokyo, Japan, from September 13 to 21.
Meanwhile, also tonight, Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya will be running in the women’s 400m hurdles, scheduled for a 9.04pm start, Bahrain time.
Adekoya will be competing against a strong field that includes Paris 2024 Olympics silver-medallist Anna Cockrell of the US, Ayomide Folorunso of Italy, Andrenette Knight of Jamaica, Naomi van den Broeck and Paulien Couckuyt of Belgium, Gianna Woodruff of Panama, and Amalie Iuel of Norway.
Adekoya will be competing for the fifth time this season in the discipline. Her last two races were earlier this month in Budapest, Hungary, and at Almaty, Kazakhstan. She clocked her season’s best of 54.63 seconds in the Hungarian capital.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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