ATHLETICS – Bahrain’s world and Olympic champion Winfred Yavi made athletics history last night with an outstanding victory in the brand-new women’s steeplechase mile at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels, Belgium.
Yavi was in a class of her own in the race, gliding through the barriers and building leads of more than 30 metres en route to the big win.
The women’s steeplechase mile is similar to Yavi’s traditional 3,000 metres steeplechase event, with barriers and a water jump, but is a more recent development designed by World Athletics to be faster-paced and more exciting.
It made its debut on the international stage yesterday and will reportedly be officially recognised as a world record event in 2026.
“It felt really good today, I´m happy with the win,” Yavi said following her race.
“I was able to keep pushing – I hoped to run faster, I was aiming for a better chrono.
“It is an unusual distance, normally it´s 3,000m, and I ran faster than I normally do. It felt harder than the 3,000m, I had to change my jumps as I was running faster towards the steeple.”
The Memorial van Damme was 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 was at the front of the field from the start of her run last night, positioning herself right behind pacemaker Valerie Constien from the US until she left the race. From that point on, Yavi had clear air ahead and maintained her sensational stride, powering down the home straight solo and finishing in an ultra-quick time of four minutes 40.13 seconds.
Yavi had a split of 2:13.25 at the race’s midway point.
American Angelina Ellis finished as a distant runner-up in 4:46.74, while Olivia Gurth from Germany came third in 4:51.87. Celestine Jepkosgei Biwot of Kenya was fourth in 4:52.10 and Stello Rutto of Romania fifth in 4:54.80, while rounding out the classification were Veerle Bakker of the Netherlands in 4:56.02 for sixth and Wosane Asefa of Ethiopia in 5:06.53 in seventh place.
Following last night’s race, Yavi is next expected to compete for her second-ever Diamond Trophy in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase next week at Weltklasse Zurich, the two-day finale of this year’s Wanda Diamond League. Yavi had already won the annual crown once during her world title-clinching season in 2023.
She 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.
“Right now, I´m returning home to train and work on my jumps,” Yavi added yesterday. “This year, I worked really hard with my coach on improving my skills and I will keep on training hard to be at my best in Tokyo.
“I hope to get a medal there, it won’t be easy but I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Also yesterday in the Belgian capital, Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya finished seventh in the women’s 400 metres hurdles.
The 32-year-old clocked a mark of 55.50 seconds in the race, won by Anna Cockrell from the US in 53.66s. Gianna Woodruff of Panama came second in 53.89s, while Naomi van den Broeck from Belgium took third in 54.12s.
Finishing in front of Adekoya were Andrenette Knight of Jamaica in 54.40s, Amalie Iuel from Norway in 54.87s, and Ayomide Folorunso from Italy in 55.35s. Belgian Paulien Couckuyt completed the classification in 55.73s.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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