ROME, ITALY, August 30 — “Oh no!” Winfred Yavi summed it up best after putting together a jaw-dropping steeplechase in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico only to miss the World Record by a mere 0.07. The effort highlighted the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea DL on a night when major records didn’t quite happen but plenty of great competition did.
The rabbits didn’t last long in the steeple, so Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai, the ’21 Olympic gold medalist took over the pace, doing an extraordinary job, passing 1K in 2:54.01 and 2K in 5:49.51. Only Paris winner Yavi could hang with that clip and the two battled hard all the way up to the last lap, Yavi taking the lead at the bell after the slowest lap of the race.
Yet so fast was the Bahraini’s kick that it pulled WR possibilities back into play. She stuttered a bit at the final hurdle, then sprinted to the line in 8:44.39, narrowly missing Beatrice Chepkoech’s ’18 standard of 8:44.32, along with the hefty bonus check that would have come with breaking that standard.
“I looked at the time after the race and I went ‘Oh no!’” said Yavi. “I was really expecting that record and I was going for it. I definitely feel I should break it and I believe it will happen. I need to work even harder. And I am planning to have another go at it before the end of the season!”
Said Chemutai, “I came here for the World Record and I missed it. The WR will be for next time. I kind of paced this race for Yavi. I knew that Yavi has this strong kick at the end. I planned this with my coach and my management, and, unfortunately, I missed the WR.”
The No. 2 performance ever, of course, counts for a meet record as well as an Asian Record. Chemutai clocked 8:48.03 to move to No. 3 all-time. Far behind was Faith Cherotich (8:57.65), with American Val Constien in 4th at 9:04.92. Marwa Bouzayani set a Tunisian record in 5th (9:04.93) and Gabbi Jennings PRed in 6th at 9:07.70 to become No.6 all-time among Americans.
The meet’s other outstanding mark on the women’s side came in the shortest hurdle race, held just before the steeple. Olympic champion Masai Russell lined up in lane 4, with silver medalist Cyrena Samba-Mayela in 5. Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent, who didn’t finish the Paris final, was relegated to 7.
In 6, Devynne Charlton got out best, followed by Russell. By hurdle 4, Nugent had caught them and…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Track & Field News…