Winfred Yavi

Winfred Mutile Yavi OLY^{[citation needed]} (Arabic: وينفريد يافي, born 31 December 1999)^[1] is a Kenyan-born Bahraini female athlete who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Currently the second fastest athlete in history at the distance with a personal best of 8:44.39, she won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, setting a new Olympic record. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Winfred Yavi

OLY

Yavi at the ISTAF Berlin in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Winfred Mutile Yavi
Born	(1999-12-31) December 31, 1999 (age 25) Nairobi, Kenya
Height	1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	49 kg (108 lb)
Sport
Country	Bahrain
Sport	Athletics
Event	3000 metres steeplechase
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	3000 m: 8:39.64i (Val-de-Reuil 2020) 3000 m steeplechase: 8:44.39 (Rome 2024) AR 5000 m: 14:41.99 (Liège 2024) NR
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Bahrain Olympic Games 2024 Paris 3000 m st. World Championships 2023 Budapest 3000 m st. Diamond League 2023 3000 m st. Asian Games 2018 Jakarta 3000 m st. 2022 Hangzhou 1500 m 2022 Hangzhou 3000 m st. Asian Championships 2019 Doha 5000 m 2019 Doha 3000 m st. 2019 Doha 1500 m Military World Games 2019 Wuhan 3000 m st. 2019 Wuhan 5000 m Islamic Solidarity Games 2021 Konya 1500 m 2021 Konya 3000 m st. Arab Championships 2019 Cairo 3000 m st. 2019 Cairo 5000 m World U20 Championships 2018 Tampere 3000 m st. Representing Asia-Pacific Continental Cup 2018 Ostrava 3000 m st.

Career

Yavi hails from Ukia, Makueni County.^[2] Born in Kenya, Winfred Yavi transferred her allegiance to Bahrain at the age of fifteen, becoming eligible to compete for her adopted nation in August 2016.^[3] She competed in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2017 World Championships at the age of 17, and finished eighth in a personal best time of 9:22.67.^[1] Yavi was the bronze medallist in her specialist event at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships.^[4] She also improved her personal best significantly in 2018, running 9:10.74 at the Monaco Diamond League.

In 2019, Yavi won gold in both the 5000 m and 3000 m steeplechase, as well as a bronze in the 1500 m at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships.^[5] She set a new personal best of 9:07.23 in finishing third at the Müller Grand Prix. She finished fourth in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2019 World Championships held in Doha.^[6] She won a gold medal in the 3000 m steeplechase and a silver medal in the 5000 m at the World Military Games.^[1]

Yavi ran a new personal best of 9:02.64 in finishing third at the 2021 Doha Diamond League.^[7] She finished tenth in the final at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.^[8]

In 2022, Yavi ran her first sub-9 minute 3000 m steeplechase at the Prefontaine Classic, running a time of 8:58.71. She followed this up by winning the Paris Diamond League with a time of 8:56.55.^[9] She finished fourth in the final at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.^[10]

The following year, Yavi won gold in her specialty event at the 2023 World Championships with a personal best time of 8:54.29.^[11] She went onto win at the Zurich Diamond League,^[12] and the Prefontaine Classic where she improved her personal best to 8:50.66, the second fastest time in history at the time.^[13] Yavi ended her season by winning gold in both the 1500 m and 3000 m steeplechase at the Asian Games.^[14][15]

In June 2024, Yavi set a new 5000 m personal best of 14:41.99 in Liège.^[16] She won gold in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2024 Paris Olympics in an Olympic record time of 8:52.76.^[17][18] She won at the Rome Diamond League in a time of 8:44.39, breaking her own national record by over 6 seconds and only missing out on the world record by 0.07 seconds.^[19] Yavi went on to place second at the Diamond League final in Brussels, finishing behind Faith Cherotich.^[20]

Statistics

Yavi races her specialist event at the 2019 ISTAF Berlin meeting.

All information from World Athletics profile.^[1]

Personal bests

• 1500 metres – 4:05.54 (Nairobi 2022)
• 3000 metres – 9:10.5h (Embu 2016)
  • 3000 metres indoor – 8:39.64 (Val-de-Reuil 2020) Asian record
• 2000 metres steeplechase – 5:56.83 (Berlin 2019) AB
  • 2000 metres steeplechase indoor – 5:45.09 (Liévin 2021) AB
• 3000 metres steeplechase – 8:44.39 AR (Rome 2024)

International competitions

Representing  Bahrain

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time	Notes
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	8th	3000 m s'chase	9:22.67	PB
2018	World U20 Championships	Tampere, Finland	3rd	3000 m s'chase	9:23.47
	Asian Games	Jakarta, Indonesia	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:36.52
	Continental Cup	Ostrava, Czech Republic	3rd	3000 m s'chase	9:17.86	[note 1]
2019	Arab Championships	Cairo, Egypt	1st	5000 m	17:15.08
			1st	3000 m s'chase	10:07.62
	Asian Championships	Doha, Qatar	3rd	1500 m	4:16.18	SB
			1st	5000 m	15:28.87	PB
			1st	3000 m s'chase	9:46.18	SB
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	4th	3000 m s'chase	9:05.68	PB
	Military World Games	Wuhan, China	2nd	5000 m	15:15.93
			1st	3000 m s'chase	9:19.24
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	10th	3000 m s'chase	9:19.74	[note 2]
2022	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	4th	3000 m s'chase	9:01.31
	Islamic Solidarity Games	Konya, Turkey	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:34:57
2023	Arab Games	Oran, Algeria	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:04.58
	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	3000 m s'chase	8:54.29
	Asian Games	Hangzhou, China	1st	1500 m	4:11.65
			1st	3000 m s'chase	9:18.28
2024	Olympic Games	Paris, France	1st	3000 m s'chase	8:52.76	OR PB

Circuit wins

• Diamond League

3000 m steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses

• 2022: Paris Meeting (WL PB)
• 2023: Doha Diamond League (WL)

Notes

1. Representing Asia-Pacific.
2. In the heats Yavi ran 9:10.80.