Olympic bronze medalist Faith Cherotich held off stiff competition from the Olympic champion Winfred Yavi Mutile of Bahrain, to win 3,000msc with a world-leading time in an incredible race at the Jetour, the 3rd stop of the Diamond League in Doha, Qatar, on Friday night.
The 20-year-old former World Under-20 champion who won bronze in the 2023 Budapest World Championships as well as the 2024 Paris Olympics, outsprinted her Kenyan-born rival to hit the finish line first in 9 minutes 5.08 seconds.
Yavi finished 2nd, 0.18 seconds behind the winner, as Ethiopia’s Sembo Alameyew completed the podium positions in 9:0.27.
Despite the triple Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon,missing out, Kenyans dominated the 1500m, with Nelly Chepchir winning in a seasonal best time of 4 minutes and 5 seconds, 1.27 seconds ahead of her compatriot Susan Ejore, who came 2nd, with Briton Jemma Reekie finishing a distant 3rd in 4:07.33.
Former World under-20 champion Reynold Cheruiyot, destroyed a star-studded field to win the 5000m in a personal best time of 13 minutes 16.40 seconds, followed by Swiss Dominic Lokinyomo in 13:17.70, same time as 3rd placed Birhanu Balew of Bahrain.
It was a different tale in the two-lap race, as two-time Commonwealth champion Wycliff Kinyamal finished 3rd in 1:43.37 behind Tsephiso Masalela of Botswana and American Bryce Hoppel, who finished 1st and 2nd in 1:43.11 and 1:43.26, respectively.
Former World Javelin champion Julius Yego finished a distant 9th with a seasonal best throw of 78.52 m, with Julian Werber of Germany emerging victorious with a world-leading throw and a PB of 91.06m.
The action now shifts to the 4th leg, set for Rabat in Morocco on the 25th of May.
