Winfred Yavi

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

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)

International competitions

Circuit wins Diamond League 3000 m steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses 2022: Paris Meeting 2023: Doha Diamond League (WL)