Prior to the Olympics, the women’s 3000m steeplechase was one of the most anticipated events in Rio, with athletics fans around the world, expecting the World Record (WR) to be erased at the Olympic Stadium in Brazil.
Although this was not to be, but Bahrain’s Ruth Jebet made sure she had one of the best performances ever in the history of the steeplechase, by outclassing the rest of the field with a new Personal Best (PB) and the second fastest time ever of 8:59.77, to win her first Olympic title.
Jebet who’s of Kenyan descent, was the favourite coming to Rio after her historic run at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene Diamond League, where she narrowly beat World Champion, Hyvin Kiyeng for the win in 8:59.96. The time was just 1.16 away from the WR, making Jebet only the second woman in history to go under 9 minutes in the Steeplechase.
However, Kiyeng who in Eugene finished 2nd with a new African Record (AR) of 9:00.01, couldn’t keep up with the pace of Jebet and better her own AR. She had to settle for Silver clocking 9:07.15, while USA’s Emma Coburn ran a massive National Record (NR) of 9:07.63, for the Bronze medal.
With the time posted by Jebet for the GOLD medal, and getting so close to breaking the WR, it’s only a matter of time before she finally gets her name on it. But one cannot take away the threat posted by Kiyeng and Coburn, who henceforth will be aiming not just to go under the 9 minutes mark, but attack the WR as well.
