Ruth Jebet secured her place in history on Saturday night as she smashed Gulnara Gulkina’s eight-year-old 3000-meter Steeplechase world record.

The Bahraini, aged just 19, narrowly missed out on breaking the record as she took the gold medal in Rio 2016 just last week, recording a time just one-second slower. But her time of 8:52.78 in the Diamond League beat Gulkina’s previous record by just over six seconds.

Jebet makes amends for missed opportunity in Rio

It looked as if Jebet, a former world junior champion in the event, would break the world record in Rio, but she eased down towards the line and took gold in a time of 8:59.75, less than a second off the World and Olympic record Gulkina set in Beijing. The Bahraini stated afterwards that she was unaware that she was on pace to make history.

However, it looked early on that the new Olympic champion would not miss her opportunity this time. The pacemakers set out at a fast pace, with Jebet and World Champion Hyvin Kiyeng sitting just behind them.

Ruth Jebet in action at the Stockholm Diamond League event earlier this year (AFP/Claudio Bresciani)
Ruth Jebet in action at the Stockholm Diamond League event earlier this year (AFP/Claudio Bresciani)

The field was stretched early on, with the likes of Emma Coburn and Sofia Assefa behind the leading group within the opening few laps, and when the pacemakers dropped out it was Jebet and Kiyeng who led the race by a fair distance.

With the pace already heading towards the world record, Jebet eased away from Kiyeng. The 19-year-old continued to press hard, and with a lap to go it seemed inevitable that the crowd would see history being made; the question was how fast she would run.

She was slightly hesitant over the final hurdle and had eased down towards the line, but her winning time, which was eventually rounded down by 0.04 seconds, was enough to make her the fastest women in history by a staggering six seconds; Kiyeng finished in second, with Coburn in third.

Fast pace sees new records for many

The fast pace that was set in this race saw many other personal and national records fall.

There were seasons bests for Sofia Assefa and Virginia Nyambura, whilst Americans Stephanie Garcia and Colleen Quigley (as well as Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya) set new personal best times.

Meanwhile, Australian Genevieve Lacaze’s time of 9:14.28 was enough to set a new Area Record.

Jebet will next be in action at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich, where she could make an attempt to lower the world record even further.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Oliver Dickson Jefford
20. English Literature student at the University of Southampton. Aspiring sports journalist from Hertfordshire.