Paris Olympics: Bahrain's Winfred Yavi grabs 3000m steeplechase gold and Games record

Yavi stuns Uganda's Peruth Chemutai in final stretch to seal victory

Bahrain's Winfred Yavi celebrates winning the women's 3000m steeplechase final. AFP

Follow the latest news on the 2024 Paris Olympics

Bahrain's Winfred Yavi ran a splendid final stretch to win the women's 3,000m steeplechase gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, edging past Uganda's Peruth Chemutai.

Yavi jumped for joy after crossing the finish line after overtaking Chemutai with an explosive final sprint that left the Ugandan - who had led most of the race - stunned.

Chemutai was in shock after Yavi, 24, grabbed victory to add the Olympic title to last year's world championship. Yavi took gold in an Olympic record time of 8 minutes 52.76 seconds.

"This is like a dream come true. It's something special," Yavi said. "It means a lot to me and also to the country."

Kenyan Faith Cherotich, 20, claimed bronze on her Olympic debut.

Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech took an early lead and was shoulder-to-shoulder with Chemutai but faded in the last lap and ended sixth, while France's Alice Finot celebrated her fourth-place finish in a very fast race.

Chepkoech, 33, holds the world record of 8:44.32 but has never won an Olympic medal in the event.

In Tokyo, it was Chemutai who delivered the upset and took the gold from favourite Chepkoech to become the first Ugandan woman to win an Olympic medal in any sport.

Meanwhile, American Gabby Thomas took the 200m title ahead of Julien Alfred in Paris to deprive St Lucia of a famous sprint double.

Alfred had claimed a first-ever medal for her tiny Caribbean island nation when she won the 100m on the weekend, but she had no response when Thomas hit the bend and powered away down the final straight at the Stade de France.

The US took gold and bronze either side of Alfred, as Thomas clocked 21.83sec for the victory and Brittany Brown rounded out the podium.

There were no complaints from Alfred.

"I did feel ready for the 200m tonight," she said. "I feel good, no complaints at all. First Olympics, to go back with gold and silver, I can't ask for more than that."

The result means it is the first time since the Montreal Games in 1976 that there were no Jamaican sprinters on the podium of either the women's 100 or 200m.

There was a huge upset earlier in the evening session when Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr were deprived of victory in the men's 1500m by USA's Cole Hocker.

The race had been billed as a clash between the Norwegian gold medallist from the Tokyo Olympics and Britain's reigning world champion.

But in the end, Hocker raced through on the inside for a totally unexpected victory in an Olympic record of 3min 27.65sec.