Jet-ruto: Norah Jeruto takes smooth route to gold

EUGENE, July 21

Norah Jeruto delivered a devastating display of front running to win the world 3,000 metres steeplechase title in a massive championship record, while China’s Feng Bin outdid Olympics champion Valerie Allman in the discus final in Eugene, Oregon today.

Jeruto, who switched allegiance from Kenya to Kazakhstan earlier this year, clocked eight minutes, 53.02 seconds, the third-fastest time ever and more than five seconds better than previous winner Beatrice Chepkoech’s mark in Doha in 2019.

Werkuha Getachew set an Ethiopian record for silver, while her compatriot Mekides Abebe took bronze.

“At the starting line, I was afraid of my friends from Ethiopia,” Jeruto said of her competitors. “They are also champions like me so I was scared of them. I tried my best to win the race and it was not easy.”

In the women’s discus final, Feng’s 69.12m opener, a personal best, was enough to secure her victory as Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic took silver and American Allman finished with bronze. Reigning champion Yaime Perez ended in seventh place.

Earlier on Wednesday, record-holder Sydney McLaughlin and fellow American Dalilah Muhammad set up a highly anticipated showdown in the women’s 400m hurdles final, after winning their respective heats. — Reuters

Semenya ends 13th

Caster Semenya finished 13th and failed to advance in the women’s 5,000 metres Wednesday, an expected result for the South African who is barred from her best event because of rules that demand she takes hormone-reducing drugs to enter certain races. Semenya finished the race in 15 minutes, 46.12 seconds, that was 54 seconds behind the winner of the heat, Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia. ap