ATHLETICS – Reigning world and Olympic champion Winfred Yavi will spearhead an eight-athlete Bahrain national team in the highly anticipated World Athletics Championships 2025.
The meeting is set to take place in Tokyo, Japan, from September 13 to 21, with more than 2,000 of the world’s superstars in track and field – both men and women representing around 200 countries – taking part.
Yavi is one of seven women who will be flying the kingdom’s flag in the Japanese capital.
The others are 2019 world champion and Paris 2024 Olympics silver-medallist Salwa Eid Naser, 2016 world indoor champion Kemi Adekoya, Nelly Jepkosgei, former under-18 world champion Tigest Gashaw, Eunice Chumba, and Shitaye Eshete.
Birhanu Balew completes the Bahrain roster as the lone men’s competitor.
The line-up has been confirmed by the Bahrain Athletics Association.
Yavi is set to compete in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase where she will be defending her world title against a high-quality field.
The 25-year-old won her steeplechase crown in the previous edition of the world championships in 2023 held in Budapest, Hungary, with a time of eight minutes 54.29 seconds – the 16th-fastest mark all-time in the discipline.
She has since run the second-best time in history of 8:44.39, which set last year as her personal best and is an Asian and Bahraini record; as well as the third-fastest mark all-time of 8:45.25, which she registered in July as her season’s best.
Yavi has been upbeat in training ahead of the worlds. “September is here – the month of the World Championships – a truly special moment for us,” she posted on social media.
Meanwhile, Naser is set to go for gold in the women’s 400m. The superstar sprinter will be looking to emulate her world title triumph from 2019 in Doha, Qatar.
She had also won a world championships silver medal in 2017 in London, England, and a worlds bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay for a medal double at the Qatari capital.
The 27-year-old is fresh from securing her third-ever Diamond Trophy last week in Zurich, Switzerland at this season’s Wanda Diamond League final, where she out-duelled reigning world and Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic.
“This definitely gives me a lot of self-confidence because after the last competitions, I needed this,” Naser said following her Zurich win. “I just needed to run – did not have anything to lose. I just tried my best to finish strong. This is what I needed before Tokyo.”
Naser heads into the worlds with a personal best of 48.14s, which is the third-fastest mark of all-time and is an Asian and national record, while her quickest of the year is 48.67s, which she set in Kingston, Jamaica, last April.
She did not compete in the 2023 worlds.
Adekoya will be running in the women’s 400m hurdles as one of the event’s underdogs but she is more than capable of challenging for a medal.
After suffering an injury last year ahead of her participation in the Paris 2024 Olympics, she has shown some solid form in her recent races this campaign.
Her personal best in the 400m hurdles is 53.09s, also an Asian and Bahraini record, while her season’s quickest is 54.63s, set last month in Budapest.
The 32-year-old was the world indoor champion in the 400m short track in 2016, and in the 2023 edition of the world championships narrowly missed out on a place on the podium, finishing fourth in the 400m hurdles final.
Jepkosgei will be running in the women’s 800m, where she has a personal best time of 1:57.69, which is a national record, and a season’s best of 2:00.15.
Gashaw, Chumba, and Eshete will all be competing in the women’s marathon.
Gashaw has a personal best of 2:24:39 in the discipline and a season’s best of 2:24:44.
Chumba’s top marks are 2:20:02 all-time, a Bahraini record, and 2:21:35 for 2025, while Eshete has a personal and season’s best of 2:20:32.
Jepkosgei, Gashaw, Chumba, and Eshete were all not part of the Bahrain national team at the 2023 worlds.
On the distaff, Balew will be running in the men’s 5,000m. This will be his fourth participation in the worlds, where he continues to chase glory.
He had qualified for the 5,000m final twice in the past in 2017 and 2019 world championships but missed out in the 2023 edition, where he also raced in the men’s 10,000m.
Balew came close to medalling in the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finishing three places shy in sixth.
The 29-year-old’s personal best is also his quickest time this season of 12:48.67, which is also an Asian and Bahraini record.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))