15th IAAF World Championships: Hyvin Jepkemoi adds to medal tally

Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi of Kenya celebrates winning the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase final during the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing

Hyvin Jepkemoi maintained Kenya’s monopoly of the 3,000m steeplechase when she proved to be tougher than all her rivals in a hard-fought final lap to win the world title yesterday.

Jepkemoi, 23, produced a sub-66 seconds last 400 and had to battle off the final barrier against the favourite, Tunisia’s Habiba Ghribi, and Germany’s Gesa Krause, to take Kenya’s sixth gold of the Beijing championships in 9 minutes 19.11 seconds.

Ghribi, the runner-up at the 2012 London Olympics and 2011 world championships, had to settle for silver once more as the Kenyan passed on her outside. Grhibi clocked 9:19.24, to Krause’s bronze-winning 9:19.25, a personal best.

The first half of the race was slow, with only a front-running effort by Lalita Babar of India picking up the pace towards the final km.

Into the final 600, American Emma Coburn made a bid for glory but, as the bell for the final lap rang, Ghribi took up the running towards a title which many had thought was a foregone conclusion.

However, as the Tunisian took the final water barrier in conventional style, with one foot on the barrier, Jepkemoi hurdled the obstacle and forced herself past her rival.

As Coburn faded over the final half-lap, eventually placing fifth, the three medallists came off the final fence in line but it was Jepkemoi, sixth in the world final in Moscow two years ago, who was the strongest finisher this time.

Meanwhile, Cuba’s Yarisley Silva needed a jump of 4.90m to win a thrilling women’s pole vault contest and claim her first major global title at the world championships.

Pushed all the way by Brazil’s Fabiana Murer and Greece’s Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou, the London Olympic silver medallist won gold with her third attempt at the winning height before failing three times at 5.01m.

Silva needed all three goes to get over at 4.70 and join an unprecedented seven women going for 4.80.

Murer and Silva cleared 4.85 at the first attempt to ultimately leave Kyriakopoulou with bronze.

With the noisy crowd roaring her on, Silva slid over the bar at 4.90 to win the title. Murer’s clearance at 4.85 was a South American record and she took silver.

At the same time, Wayde van Niekerk ran the fastest 400m since 2007 to become the first South African to win a world championship sprint title.

— Agencies