Ruth Jebet stormed to victory in the 3000-meter steeplechase, though narrowly missed out on the World Record as she slowed down, unaware of how close she was to history, on the fourth day of Athletics at Rio 2016.
The Bahraini took control early on and never looked like being caught, leading out on her own for most the race, and stormed to victory in the second fastest time in history, and securing Bahrain's first gold of Rio 2016.
The silver medal went to Hyvin Jepkemoi, with the bronze medal going to Emma Coburn, who set a new American record.
Slow start to the race
Many had expected Jebet, arguably the favorite for the race, to set a fast pace and push for the World Record.
Despite that, the pace was slow in the early stages with no one seemingly willing to take it on. Jepkemoi, the current World Champion, led the field alongside her teammate, Beatrice Chepkoech, with Jebet slowly moving up the field to settle in in fourth place.
Jebet storms away
It was not too long after the first 1000-meters that the Bahraini went away from the rest of the field, leaving the field stretched. Jebet gradually increased the pace even more, leaving the likes of Sofia Assefa and Habiba Ghibli completely out of contention. Jepkemoi and Chepkoech sat in second and third, with Emma Coburn behind them in fourth.
Jebet continued to push and it was touch and go as to whether she was on World Record pace, though it seemed more likely that another record would fall at these championships. Meanwhile, Coburn had made up ground on Jepkemoi, and with Chepkoech dropping off, the American was almost guaranteed a medal.
Approaching the final lap Jebet was on pace to beat Gulnara Gulkina’s World Record from the Olympic final in Beijing and she continued at that pace. Despite that, she was unaware at how fast she was going and jogged over the line to take gold in a time of 8:59.75; less than a second off the World Record.
In the battle for the minor medals, Coburn was just edged out by Jepkemoi, though she set a new American record of 9:07.63.
