Olympic Track and Field 2016: Women's 3,000M Steeplechase Medal Winners, Results
Bahrain’s Ruth Jebet romped to gold in the Olympic women's 3,000-metre steeplechase final on Monday, recording the second-fastest time in the event’s history.
Jebet pulled well clear of the field with a brilliant surge and posted a time of eight minutes, 59.75 seconds; Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi and the United States' Emma Coburn took silver and bronze, respectively.
While Jebet will be delighted, she did slow down in the latter stages to enjoy the win, which means she didn’t surpass the world-record mark of 8:58.81 set by Gulnara Samitova-Galkina in 2008. Here’s a look back at a gripping race.
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| Ruth Jebet (BRN) 8:59.75 | Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi (KEN) 9:07.12 | Emma Coburn (USA) 9:07.63 |
Jebet Blows Field Away
On what was a hot day in Rio de Janeiro, the competitors were always going to be in for a war of attrition. And so it proved to be, as the runners set off at a brisk pace with a succession of barriers to conquer.
However, it became apparent that Jebet was the class act in the field. Once she took the lead after one kilometre, the 19-year-old star had already sewn up the race.
From there, it looked to be Jebet versus the clock as she hunted down an eight-year-old world record. And as the teenager continued to clear barriers, those inside the Olympic Stadium were beginning to believe they may witness the fastest time in history.
Even in the final stages of the race, it looked to be on, and while the Bahraini stumbled over the final hurdle, a sprint to the line would have been enough for her to add gloss to the gold. But Jebet took a look at the screen, checked there were no onrushing rivals and opted to enjoy her Olympic moment instead.
“Today it was [about] a medal,” she said afterward to BBC Sport.
As Farayi Mungazi of BBC noted, it was a landmark win for Bahrain, too:
Still, any competitor would feel bittersweet at not breaking the world record when given such a great chance. After all, as this image from FloTrack illustrated, Jebet had little to worry about behind her:
The battle for silver and bronze proved to be much more competitive, with Coburn turning in an exceptional effort to stay in touch. While silver seemed to be up for grabs for the United States star, Jepkemoi just ran away from her in the closing stages of the final.
Coburn can be proud, though. As ESPN Stats & Info’s Paul Carr noted, it's the best that any American woman has done in an Olympic steeplechase final:
At just 19, Jebet has already achieved what would have been a lifetime ambition. With a lot of improving still do to and many more Games to compete at, notching a new world record in a big race seems inevitable for her. Perhaps that’s why she was so content with taking the gold on Monday.
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