Dominant Jeruto roars to superb steeplechase gold

• Kazakhstan’s Jeruto breaks championship record in 8:53.02 seconds, the third-fastest of all time

Norah Jeruto delivered a devastating display of front running to win the world 3,000 metres steeplechase title in a massive championship record on Wednesday, earning gold for Kazakhstan having switched allegiance from Kenya earlier this year. Jeruto clocked eight minutes, 53.02 seconds, the third-fastest of all time and more than five seconds better than Beatrice Chepkoech’s 2019 winning mark. Werkuha Getachew set an Ethiopian record of 8:54.61 for silver, ahead of compatriot Mekides Abebe, who took bronze with a personal best of 8:56.08.Bahrain’s Winfred Mutile Yavi, fastest in the world this year and another former Kenyan, finished fourth for the second successive World Championships. Five of the top seven set national records or personal bests as carbon spike technology and a super-fast track continue to tear down existing marks. I enjoyed my race today,” Jeruto said. “At the starting line I was afraid of my friends from Ethiopia and it was tough. I decided to go to the front so I could control the race.”Jeruto and Mutile Yavi have both been in impressive form this season and showed their intention from the off as they put the hammer down on the opening lap to immediately stretch the field. The Ethiopian pair, Uganda’s Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai and home hope and 2017 champion Emma Coburn stuck with them as they rattled through the first kilometre inside three minutes. They just about stayed together until three laps to go, when Coburn dropped off, then Abebe looked to be out of it too, only to dig really deep to latch back on for the final lap. Running bunched together it made the barriers more of a challenge and as the Ethiopian duo battled for space behind Jeruto, it was Yavi who paid the price, almost coming to a stop in the water jump to end her medal hopes. Jeruto, who missed the Tokyo Olympics as she sat out her change of allegiance period, tore down the home straight, finishing more than half a second inside her personal best, set on the same Hayward Field track almost a year ago. Ethiopia had previously managed only one bronze medal since the event was introduced in 2005 and Getachew was delighted to play her part in improving that tally.“This is so amazing, we will surely celebrate. I wanted gold but the winner was very strong,” she said. “The steeplechase is a Kenyan event. Ethiopian men started to challenge, we are joining them now and it’s becoming our event,” she said, referring to her compatriot Lamecha Girma, who took silver in the men’s race on Monday.Feng wins surprise women’s discus goldMeanwhile, China’s Feng Bin put up the performance of her life to stun the women’s discus final, as Olympic champion American Valerie Allman settled for bronze. Feng won off of her 69.12-metres opener, a personal best and her strongest performance of the season by a wide margin, as Croatia’s twice Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic secured the silver in a 68.45-metres second attempt.“I am so excited and I have to say all opponents did a very good job today,” said Feng. “I did not expect this result coming to Eugene. I just wanted to show my best.”With the home crowd urging her on, Allman rocketed the discus across the field on her third throw and she jumped with excitement at the performance but it was marked far short of Feng’s effort, and she fumbled her final try for 51.41. The bespectacled, six-foot-tall Feng whipped across a final throw of 64.62 before thrusting her arms into the air, having completed the massive upset and secured China’s first gold in the event since Li Yanfeng in 2011. “I am very excited about this result and want to share this excitement with my family and my friends,” Feng told reporters, after picking up her first world medal.Reigning champion Yaime Perez of Cuba could not find her power, finishing seventh with a best throw of 63.07. A medal felt all too familiar around Perkovic’s neck after two world titles, a bronze in Doha and a previous silver in 2015. “My biggest rival this year — Valarie Allman — and I managed to beat her on the home soil,” she said. “I did not expect the Chinese girl would beat us all. But I am also glad for her because she threw a huge PB and I think you just have to be lucky.”

China’s Feng Bin competes in the women’s discus throw final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday. (AFP)