Peruth Chemutai was close to becoming the first Ugandan athlete to defend an Olympic title before Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi stole past her in the last 20 metres
OLYMPICS | Peruth Chemutai fell on her back on the purple tartans of Stade de Paris after crossing the finish line and burst into tears despite what many Ugandans celebrated as a great achievement for the women’s 3000m steeplechase star.
After enduring three uneventful years since storming to Gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games, three years in which she looked like she was done for, Chemutai rediscovered her spike and water jump finesse in Paris.
But Chemutai, who was seeking to become the first Ugandan athlete to defend an Olympic title, was left in tears after her close friend in Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi stole past her in a dramatic sprint finish to the tape.
Yavi took the Gold in a Olympic record time of eight minutes 52.76 seconds, while Chemutai also set a new national record, finishing in eight minutes 53.34 seconds ahead of Kenyan Faith Cherotich.
Chemutai came into the final on the back of an impressive semifinal in which she clocked the fastest time of 9:10:51 seconds and with the weight of a medal having tripled on her small shoulders following the shock withdrawal of Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo from the 5000m event.
Along with marathoner Victor Kiplangat, Chemutai became the nation’s hope for another medal after Cheptegei’s gold in the 10000m last Friday.
And she looked like she was not just up for a medal but to defend her title with the diminutive Yavi biding her time behind a group of five that jockeyed for position behind Kenyan world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech who led for most of the race.
Chemutai and Yavi were locked together going into the home straight and remained neck-and-neck as they went over the final barrier with 50 metres to go.
But Yavi, the gold medallist at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, was had stored more gas in her lungs than Chamutai and used to kick on ahead with 20 metres to the finish to claim the Gold.
The 25-year old Chemutai held the advantage at the bell, positioned at the head of a group of five athletes which included Chepkoech, Cherotich and Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew.
As the crowd in the Stade de France raised the noise, Chemutai and Yavi, 24, pulled ahead of the pack to begin their head-to-head battle over the last 100 metres.
Having switched allegiance from Kenya to Bahrain at the age of 15, Yavi becomes the third competitor to win athletics gold for her country at the Olympics.
Chemutai’s Silver comes is worth Shs50 million from the government but she will be earning more for her achievement once sponsors and other entities join the celebrations next week.