Winfred Mutile Yavi OLY[citation needed] (Arabic: وينفريد يافي, born 31 December 1999)[1] is a Kenyan-born Bahraini female athlete who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Currently the second fastest athlete in history at the distance with a personal best of 8:44.39, she won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, setting a new Olympic record. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Winfred Yavi
Yavi at the ISTAF Berlin in 2019
Personal information
Full nameWinfred Mutile Yavi
Born (1999-12-31) December 31, 1999 (age 24)
Nairobi, Kenya
Height1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight49 kg (108 lb)
Sport
CountryBahrain
SportAthletics
Event3000 metres steeplechase
Achievements and titles
Personal bests

Career

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Yavi hails from Ukia, Makueni County.[2] Born in Kenya, Winfred Yavi transferred her allegiance to Bahrain at the age of fifteen, becoming eligible to compete for her adopted nation in August 2016.[3] She competed in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2017 World Championships at the age of 17, and finished eighth in a personal best time of 9:22.67.[1] Yavi was the bronze medallist in her specialist event at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships.[4] She also improved her personal best significantly in 2018, running 9:10.74 at the Monaco Diamond League.

In 2019, Yavi won gold in both the 5000 m and 3000 m steeplechase, as well as a bronze in the 1500 m at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships.[5] She set a new personal best of 9:07.23 in finishing third at the Müller Grand Prix. She finished fourth in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2019 World Championships held in Doha.[6] She won a gold medal in the 3000 m steeplechase and a silver medal in the 5000 m at the World Military Games.[1]

Yavi ran a new personal best of 9:02.64 in finishing third at the 2021 Doha Diamond League.[7] She finished tenth in the final at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[8]

In 2022, Yavi ran her first sub-9 minute 3000 m steeplechase at the Prefontaine Classic, running a time of 8:58.71. She followed this up by winning the Paris Diamond League with a time of 8:56.55.[9] She finished fourth in the final at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.[10]

The following year, Yavi won gold in her specialty event at the 2023 World Championships with a personal best time of 8:54.29.[11] She went onto win at the Zurich Diamond League,[12] and the Prefontaine Classic where she improved her personal best to 8:50.66, the second fastest time in history at the time.[13] Yavi ended her season by winning gold in both the 1500 m and 3000 m steeplechase at the Asian Games.[14][15]

In June 2024, Yavi set a new 5000 m personal best of 14:41.99 in Liège.[16] She won gold in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2024 Paris Olympics in an Olympic record time of 8:52.76.[17][18] She won at the Rome Diamond League in a time of 8:44.39, breaking her own national record by over 6 seconds and only missing out on the world record by 0.07 seconds.[19] Yavi went on to place second at the Diamond League final in Brussels, finishing behind Faith Cherotich.[20]

Statistics

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Yavi races her specialist event at the 2019 ISTAF Berlin meeting.

All information from World Athletics profile.[1]

Personal bests

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International competitions

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Representing   Bahrain
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time Notes
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 8th 3000 m s'chase 9:22.67 PB
2018 World U20 Championships Tampere, Finland 3rd 3000 m s'chase 9:23.47
Asian Games Jakarta, Indonesia 1st 3000 m s'chase 9:36.52
Continental Cup Ostrava, Czech Republic 3rd 3000 m s'chase 9:17.86 [note 1]
2019 Arab Championships Cairo, Egypt 1st 5000 m 17:15.08
1st 3000 m s'chase 10:07.62
Asian Championships Doha, Qatar 3rd 1500 m 4:16.18 SB
1st 5000 m 15:28.87 PB
1st 3000 m s'chase 9:46.18 SB
World Championships Doha, Qatar 4th 3000 m s'chase 9:05.68 PB
Military World Games Wuhan, China 2nd 5000 m 15:15.93
1st 3000 m s'chase 9:19.24
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 10th 3000 m s'chase 9:19.74 [note 2]
2022 World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 4th 3000 m s'chase 9:01.31
Islamic Solidarity Games Konya, Turkey 1st 3000 m s'chase 9:34:57
2023 Arab Games Oran, Algeria 1st 3000 m s'chase 9:04.58
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st 3000 m s'chase 8:54.29
Asian Games Hangzhou, China 1st 1500 m 4:11.65
1st 3000 m s'chase 9:18.28
2024 Olympic Games Paris, France 1st 3000 m s'chase 8:52.76 OR PB

Circuit wins

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3000 m steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses

Notes

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  1. ^ Representing   Asia-Pacific.
  2. ^ In the heats Yavi ran 9:10.80.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Winfred Mutile YAVI – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. ^ Anirudh (10 August 2024). "Why does Kenyan-born Winfred Yavi compete for Bahrain? Everything about the athlete who broke the women's 3000m steeplechase Olympic record in Paris". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  3. ^ "ELIGIBILITY - TRANSFER OF ALLEGIANCE (Transfers that have taken place from 25 April to 29 June 2016)". IAAF. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  4. ^ "3000 Metres Steeplechase Women - Final" (PDF). World Athletics. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  5. ^ Ramsak, Bob (23 April 2019). "Bahrain and China continue their dominance at Asian Championships in Doha". World Athletics. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  6. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (30 September 2019). "Report: women's 3000m steeplechase - IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Results - 3000m Steeplechase Women" (PDF). doha.diamondleague.com. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Results" (PDF). World Athletics. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  9. ^ "5 Thoughts on Paris Diamond League – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Still Has it, Winfred Yavi 8:56 Steeple". Letsrun.com. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  10. ^ "Jeruto leads fast final, breaking championship record to win world steeplechase gold". World Athletics. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  11. ^ Turnbull, Simon (27 August 2023). "Yavi makes a splash with steeplechase gold in Budapest". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  12. ^ Goh, ZK (31 August 2023). "Zurich Diamond League 2023: World champions from Budapest 23 shine in Switzerland". olympics.com. IOC. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  13. ^ Whittington, Jess (16 September 2023). "Ingebrigtsen and Yavi shine as records fall on day one of Diamond League Final". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  14. ^ "World champion Yavi takes charge in Hangzhou as Hadadi's long reign ends". France 24. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  15. ^ Omotto, Joel (3 October 2023). "Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Mutile Yavi bags handsome amount from winning two gold medals at Asian Games". Pulse Sports. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  16. ^ Almaskati, Hussain (21 June 2024). "Winfred Yavi breaks personal record in 5,000 metres". News of Bahrain. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  17. ^ de Villiers, Ockert (6 August 2024). "Paris 2024 athletics: Bahrain's Winfred Yavi races to Olympic record for women's 3,000m steeplechase gold". olympics.com. IOC. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  18. ^ Satish, A.K.S (7 August 2024). "It's just the beginning, Bahrain's Winfred Yavi warns after steeplechase gold". Gulf News. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  19. ^ Henderson, Jason (31 August 2024). "Winfred Yavi and Ackera Nugent take barriers in their stride in Rome". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  20. ^ Chuma, Festus (14 September 2024). "Faith Cherotich stuns Olympics champion Winfred Yavi to claim steeplechase Diamond League title". Pulse Sports. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
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