Winfred Mutile Yavi of Bahrain celbrates after winning the women's, 3000m steeplechase final at the Stade de France on August 6, 2024.
Kenyans must have been wondering how Athletics Kenya officials let Makueni-born Winfred Mutile Yavi compete for Bahrain as she jumped in joy after winning the gold in the 3,000m steeplechase final in an Olympic record time of 8 minutes 52.76 seconds on Tuesday night at the Stade de France.
She dethroned Uganda's Peruth Chemutai who had to settle for silver despite leading most of the race. Chemutai was in shock after Yavi, 24, stole the finish to add the Olympic title to last year's world championship in Budapest.
"This is like a dream come true. It's something special," Yavi told reporters. "It means a lot to me and also to the country."
Kenyan 20-year-old Faith Cherotich, ranked third in the world, claimed bronze on her Olympic debut.
Yavi’s gold medal is the second for Bahrain after another Kenyan-born Ruth Chebet won the gold in the race at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Bahrain's Winfred Mutile (left) wins the 3,000m steeplecahase final ahead of Uganda's Peruth Chemutai at the Stade de France on August 6, 2024.
Despite representing her adopted nation, Yavi trains in Ngong, Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, and sometimes Kapsabet in Nandi County.
Won bronze
Born in Ukia in Makueni County, Yavi changed her allegiance at the age of 15 becoming eligible to compete for Bahrain in August 2016.
Her first major international race under the new nation was at the 2017 World Championships in London where she finished in eighth position running a personal best of 9:22.67.
In 2018, she won bronze in the World Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland in a race won by Kenya’s Celliphine Chespol with Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai coming in second place.
The same year she won a gold medal at the Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia before ending the year with a bronze medal at the Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
In 2019, she bagged two gold medals at the Arab Championships in Cairo, Egypt doubling in the 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m, before heading to the Asian Championships where she won gold in the 3,000m steeplechase and the 5,000m race, and a bronze medal in the 1,500m race.
At that year’s World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Yavi finished fourth in a race won by Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech.
She ended the year competing in the Military World Games in Wuhan, China where she also bagged a gold medal in the 3,000m steeplechase and a silver in the 5,000m.
It was not a good outing for her at the 2020 Olympic Games where she finished in 10th position in the 3,000m steeplechase with a fourth finish at the World Championships in 2022 in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
She would later that year compete at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey where she bagged a gold medal.
In 2023, she bagged four gold medals starting with the Arab Games in Oran, Algeria in the 3,000m steeplechase, World Championships in Budapest, Hungary (3,000m steeplechase), and at the Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China (1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase).
