- Kenya has never won a 3000m steeplechase gold medal in the women’s category since the inception of the Olympic Games.
- Ruth Jebet and Winfred Yavi, who changed their citizenship to Bahrain, won the gold medals in the 2016 and 2024 Olympic Games editions.
- Hyvin Kiyeng came close to winning the title for Kenya in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games when she finished second.
Kenyan women have had immense success in the Olympic Games over the years, especially in the middle and long distance races.
From the days of Pamela Jelimo to the current era of Faith Kipyegon and Beatrice Chebet, Kenyan women have won gold medals in almost all track events with the exception of the 3000m steeplechase event.
However, despite the 3000m steeplechase gold medal remaining elusive for Kenya in the history of the games, some of the winners in recent editions were born, raised and still live in the country.
The above fact has angered most athletics fans who have partly put the blame on Athletics Kenya for sleeping on the job.
Here are two Kenyan-born women who changed their citizenship and later went on to clinch 3000m steeplechase Olympic Games titles for their adopted country.
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Ruth Jebet
In August 2016, most Kenyans were glued to their television screens watching the 3000m Steeplechase final at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games with a lot of expectations.
The country was represented by the talented trio of the then reigning world champion Hyvin Jepkemoi, Beatrice Chepkoech and Lydia Rotich.
These athletes had registered impressive performances heading to the games such that nearly everyone backed Kenya to win its first ever Olympic Games title in the discipline.
After the first few laps, the hopes of winning a gold medal started to diminish as Kenyan-born speedster Ruth Jebet took the lead and opened a considerable lap.
Jebet, who had switched her allegiance to Bahrain in 2013 while still in high school, never looked back as she went on to win the coveted gold medal in an Asian record time of 8:59:75 and in the process denying her country of birth the chance to shine.
The athlete, who became Bahrain’s first ever Olympic Games gold medalist, was followed by Jepkemoi, with United States’ runner Emma Coburn settling for third.
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Winfred Mutile Yavi
Kenya’s hopes of winning the 3000m steeplechase women’s gold medal were also dashed in the recently held 2024 Paris Olympics.
The heartbreak was made possible by another Kenyan-born runner in Winfred Mutile Yavi, who allegedly switched her allegiance to Bahrain due to lack of opportunities back home.
Yavi ran a calculated race to beat the likes of defending champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and the Kenyan duo of Faith Cherotich and Beatrice Chepkoech.
The last-born child in a family of five, switched on the gears and went on to outpace Chemutai in the final stages of the hotly contested race.
She crossed the finishing line in an Olympic Games record time of 8:52:76 with Chemutai (8:53:34) and Cherotich (8:55:15) collecting silver and bronze respectively.
Yavi’s heroic display ensured Bahrain’s national anthem was sung in an Olympic Games stadium for the second time in history. As for Kenya, the wait for the elusive gold medal continued.
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