Winfred Yavi on what it means to beat world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech in all races

ATHLETICS Winfred Yavi on what it means to beat world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech in all races

Abigael Wafula 06:34 - 19.09.2023

Yavi has beaten Chepkoech in all the races they have competed together starting from the Diamond League Meeting in Doha and she has disclosed what that means to her.

World 3000m Steeplechase champion Winfred Yavi has been in impeccable form this season, losing only a single race in her specialty.

Yavi opened her season at the Diamond League Meeting in Doha, Qatar with a dominant win before finishing 11th at the Meeting in Florence, Italy.

After her loss in Florence, it has been winning all through and she has also upset some of the greatest athletes who are experts in the race. Yavi won the Arab Games Algiers 2023 before reigning supreme at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

She had handed world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech her first loss of the season in Doha but it was not as close as their battle at the Hungarian capital. 

In Doha, Chepkoech finished fourth but at the World Championships, she was forced to finish second after Yavi proved to be a tough nut to crack.

The duo was in action at the Diamond League Meeting in Zurich and Yavi was the one who took the win ahead of Chepkoech who finished second one more time.

At the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday night, Yavi also fought hard for a win over Chepkoech. She clocked a meeting record time of 8:50.66 to cross the line ahead of Chepkoech and she has attested that beating the Kenyan gives her more assurance that she is on the right track as far as the world record is concerned.

“It gives me more power like I can do better than this. To see the world record holder behind me I feel like I can even do the same thing like her,” she said in a post-race interview.

The 23-year-old added that she has put in a lot of effort in her work and she is happy things are finally working out in her favour.

The Kenyan-born Bahraini also expressed her shock towards bagging the win at the Prefontaine Classic and attested that it was something she was not expecting.

“Today (Saturday) I didn’t expect it, I did the second fastest time. I’m so happy, I’m excited at the same time. I think this year has been precious, it has been so good to me this year.

"Behind the scenes, I’ve been working hard secretly, I’ve been sacrificing a lot, training hard, doing a lot, doing a lot of strength training.

"I used to do a lot, something different than last year, so I think I got a big improvement this year,” she said.

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