Mutile Yavi denies Kenya steeplechase gold as Beatrice Chepkoech and Faith Cherotich complete podium in Budapest

© Eric Barasa

Mutile Yavi denies Kenya steeplechase gold as Beatrice Chepkoech and Faith Cherotich complete podium in Budapest

Abigael Wafula 22:20 - 27.08.2023

All hopes were resting on the Kenyan trio of Beatrice Chepkoech, Faith Cherotich, and Jackline Chepkoech.

15 strong women took on the brand-new National Athletics Centre on Sunday night in the Hungarian capital with each going for the coveted prize but only one athlete would bag the gold medal and two take silver and bronze.

All hopes were resting on the Kenyan trio of world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, World Under-20 champion Faith Cherotich, and Commonwealth Games Champion Jackline Chepkoech.

However, Team Kenya failed to reclaim the title but managed to impress by taking the second and third places. Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won the race as Chepkoech and youngster Cherotich finished second and third respectively. Another Kenyan in the race was Jackline who faded to finish ninth in 9:14.72.

After the 500m mark, Chepkoech was leading the pack with Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew following closely. Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai was comfortably running in third place as Jackline and Cherotich were running in sixth and seventh places respectively.

Chepkoech, acting as a pace maker, was looking comfortable racing and was controlling the race in a very smart way, to display her experience. Crossing the 1200m mark, Cherotich was running in second place behind Chepkoech.

Crossing the 1600m mark, Bahrain’s Yavi was now climbing up the ranks and had now gone before Cherotich and was running behind Chepkoech. Jackline seemed to be struggling behind.

Crossing the 2600m mark, Yavi took the mantle, and Chepkoech and Cherotich were now running behind the Bahrainian. With the finish line in sight, Yavi sprinted to cross the finish line in 8:37.18.