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Ugandan Peruth Chemutai got the defence of her Olympic 3,000 metres steeplechase title off on the right track in Paris by cruising through the opening heat on Sunday 4^th August 2024.

On Sunday, August 4, 2024, Ugandan Peruth Chemutai breezed through the opening heat, setting the stage for a successful defence of her Olympic 3,000-meter steeplechase championship in Paris.

Kenyan world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech handily won her heat while 2023 world champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain also advanced to the final. There were few surprises when Sunday’s programme kicked off at the Stade de France.

Chemutai went to the front of the pack almost immediately and never let up in a confident performance, crossing the finish in a comfortable 9 minutes, 10.51 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Faith Cherotich, the 2023 world bronze medalist.

Yavi took a different tactic in the second heat, biding her time at the back of the pack before making her move around the halfway mark and holding on down the final straight to finish in 9:15.11 ahead of Ethiopian Sembo Almayew.

With Chepkoech (9:13.56) all by herself with two laps to go in the final heat, the battle for second saw the Parisian crowd erupt into cheers as France’s Alice Finot got the better of German Lea Meyer in the final few meters.

Chemutai is the Ugandan record holder for the 3000 m steeplechase and 5 kilometers road race.

Peruth Chemutai won the gold medal in the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, becoming the first Ugandan woman ever to win an Olympic medal.

This ambitious athlete also has silver medals from the 2023 All-Africa Games in Accra and the 2018 World U20 Championships in Tampere.