Winfred through to steeplechase final

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi powered into the medal round of the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase last night at the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Eugene, Oregon, in the US. Winfred booked her place in the final after finishing third in the last of three heats in the event’s first round. Only the top three from each heat booked an automatic berth in the medal-deciding race, where they will be joined by the six next fastest athletes from all heats.

The steeplechase final is scheduled to take place early on Thursday morning at 5.45am, Bahrain time. Winfred was able to make it through after finishing her heat in a time of nine minutes 17.32 seconds. She pushed hard over the home straight as she tried to make a late challenge on leader Celliphone Chespol of Kenya, who won in 9:16.78, and Marusa Mismas Zrimsek of Slovenia, who was the runner-up in 9:17.14. Winfred was amongst the leaders early on, and she maintained her position amongst a big group with two laps to go. At the bell, she had a narrow lead but quickly fell behind Chespol and Mismas Zrimsek, although eventually did enough to claim her automatic qualifying spot.

Norah Jeruto of Kazakhstan won the first heat in dominant fashion with a time of 9:01.54, which was the fastest time in the round. She qualified automatically from the heat along with Werkuha Getachew of Ethiopia who finished second in 9:11.25, and Marwa Bouzayani of Tunisia who came third in 9:12.14. In heat two, Alice Finot of France won a hotly contested race in 9:14.34 to power into the medal race. Mekides Abebe of Ethiopia came second in 9:14.83, while Luiza Gega of Albania came third in 9:14.91 for the last automatic qualifying berth.

The six other athletes to advance were Courtney Wayment, Courtney Frerichs and former world champion Emma Coburn of the US, Aimee Pratt of Great Britain, Gesa Felicitas Krause of Germany, and Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist Peruth Chemutai of Uganda. Yavi’s qualifying time was the 12th best in the heats amongst the 15 qualifiers.

Sprint

Meanwhile, sprinter Edidiong Odiong was scheduled to compete in the women’s 100m heats at 3.10am early today morning, Bahrain time. Should she have advanced, Edidiong will compete in her semi-final early tomorrow morning, to be followed by the medal round a little later the same day. Edidiong will also be competing in the women’s 200m, which gets underway with the heats on Tuesday.

Also today, Shumi Dechasa will have the first chance to go for gold for Bahrain when he competes in the men’s marathon, scheduled for a 4.15pm start, Bahrain time. Dechasa heads into the event with a personal best time of two hours six minutes 43 seconds, and a season’s best of 2:10:09. Dechasa is ranked 121st in the world in the marathon. Five athletes in the top 10 of the world rankings in the marathon are part of the 63-runner field, with 33 countries being represented. Bahrain have four athletes at this year’s world championships.

Aminat Jamal joins Winfred, Edidiong and Dechasa. She will be competing in the women’s 400m hurdles, which get underway with the heats on Wednesday. Bahrain’s athletes are among around 2,000 competitors from nearly 200 countries in the 10- day meeting.