Ruth Jebet has finally gotten what she long sought after, smashing the women’s 3000m Steeplechase World Record (WR) to win at the Paris Diamond League with a time of 8:52.82.
The Kenyan-born Bahrain athlete has been the top performing Steeplechaser this year, winning the GOLD medal in Brazil with an Olympic record of 8:59.75, and it was the second fastest time ever then.
However, her recent feat has seen her surpass Gulnara Galkina’s 2008 WR of 8:58.81, and she now holds three out of the four fastest times ever in this event.
It was a remarkable achievement for Jebet who completely outran the field, as she was on her own in the last 800m with Hyving Kiyeng hardly putting up a fight.
The race was so fast that from 4th to the 10th finishers either ran a Personal Bests (PBs) or Season’s Bests (SBs) or Area Records (AR) as well. Kiyeng finished 2nd with a time of 9:01.96 and Emma Coburn 3rd with a time of 9:10.19.
Women’s Steeplechase was not the only event that accounted for World Records. In the men’s 3000m, Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha ran a World Lead and world U20 record of 7:28.19 to clinch the event. Abdelaati Iguider was 2nd in 7:30.09 with Hagos Gebrhiwet 3rd in 7:30.45
Meanwhile in the women’s 1500m, Laura Muir put up a spectacular performance, going out hard with strong determination as she stormed to an Meeting Record, British Record & WL of 3:55.22 to win.
Not many saw Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon finishing 2nd, losing her first race of the year as she clocked 3:56.72 and Sifan Hassan 3rd in 3:57.13.
In the men’s 800m, Kenya’s Alfred Kipketer charged through to get the victory over the final metres of the men’s 800m, running a PB of 1:42.87 in the process. Olympic Silver medallist Taoufik Makhloufi finished 2nd with 1:42.98 and Jonathan Kitilit 3rd with a time of 1:43.05
