Winfred Mutile Yavi (Arabic: وينفريد يافي, born 31 December 1999) 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.
Career Yavi hails from Ukia, Makueni County. 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. 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. Yavi was the bronze medallist in her specialist event at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships. 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. 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. She won a gold medal in the 3000 m steeplechase and a silver medal in the 5000 m at the World Military Games.
Yavi ran a new personal best of 9:02.64 in finishing third at the 2021 Doha Diamond League. She finished tenth in the final at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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. She finished fourth in the final at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.
The following year, Yavi won gold in her specialty event at the 2023 World Championships with a personal best time of 8:54.29. She went onto win at the Zurich Diamond League, and the Prefontaine Classic where she improved her personal best to 8:50.66, the second fastest time in history at the time. Yavi ended her season by winning gold in both the 1500 m and 3000 m steeplechase at the Asian Games.
In June 2024, Yavi set a new 5000 m personal best of 14:41.99 in Liège. She won gold in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2024 Paris Olympics in an Olympic record time of 8:52.76. 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. Yavi went on to place second at the Diamond League final in Brussels, finishing behind Faith Cherotich.
Statistics
All information from World Athletics profile.
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) 2000 metres steeplechase indoor – 5:45.09 (Liévin 2021) 3000 metres steeplechase – 8:44.39 AR (Rome 2024) 10,000 metres – 32:39.18 (Nagoya 2026)
International competitions 2017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom8th3000 m s'chase9:22.672018World U20 ChampionshipsTampere, Finland3rd3000 m s'chase9:23.47Asian GamesJakarta, Indonesia1st3000 m s'chase9:36.52Continental CupOstrava, Czech Republic3rd3000 m s'chase9:17.862019Arab ChampionshipsCairo, Egypt1st5000 m17:15.081st3000 m s'chase10:07.62Asian ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar3rd1500 m4:16.181st5000 m15:28.871st3000 m s'chase9:46.18World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar4th3000 m s'chase9:05.68Military World GamesWuhan, China2nd5000 m15:15.931st3000 m s'chase9:19.242021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan10th3000 m s'chase9:19.742022World ChampionshipsEugene, OR, United States4th3000 m s'chase9:01.31Islamic Solidarity GamesKonya, Turkey1st3000 m s'chase9:34:572023Arab GamesOran, Algeria1st3000 m s'chase9:04.58World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary1st3000 m s'chase8:54.29Asian GamesHangzhou, China1st1500 m4:11.651st3000 m s'chase9:18.282024Olympic GamesParis, France1st3000 m s'chase8:52.762025World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan2nd3000 m s'chase8:56.46Islamic Solidarity GamesRiyadh, Saudi Arabia1st3000 m s'chase9:40.652026Asian GamesNagoya, Japan1st5000 m15:10.181st10,000 m32:39.181st3000 m s'chase9:04.36
Circuit wins Diamond League 3000 m steeplechase champion: 2023 3000 m steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses 2022 (1): Paris ( ) 2023 (3): Doha (), Zürich, Eugene (, , , ) 2024 (2): Paris, Rome (, , , ) 2025 (1): Eugene (, ) 2026 (1): Lausanne ()
Notes
References
External links