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Steve Wilson Eugene (USA)Norah Jeruto cleared the last water jump, surged around the bend and accelerated down the final straight.No one could catch her. Timing her kick perfectly, Jeruto pulled away from her three challengers and captured gold in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on Wednesday night.It was a masterclass of controlled running by the 26-year-old Jeruto, who clocked a championship record and the third-fastest time in history to claim her first world title on day six of the championships at Eugene’s Hayward Field.The Kenyan-born Jeruto also secured the first ever World Championships gold in any event for Kazakhstan, the country she has represented since the start of 2022.Jeruto clocked 8:53.02, smashing the previous championship record by more than four seconds. Ethiopia’s Werkuha Getachew took silver in a national record of 8:54.61 and her compatriot Mekides Abebe grabbed bronze in a personal best 8:56.08.It was the first steeplechase in history in which three women had finished inside nine minutes.The day’s only other final also produced a first-time champion, but this one was a surprise, as China’s Feng Bin uncorked the throw of her life to upstage the favourites and win the women’s discus title.Feng’s winning effort of 69.12m – an improvement of more than three metres on her previous best – came on her first throw. Two-time world champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia took silver with a best throw of 68.45m and Olympic champion Valarie Allman of the US earned bronze with 68.30m.On a day of sweltering heat, with temperatures reaching 33C (92F), the Hayward Field track produced some red-hot times – notably in the women’s 400m hurdles semifinals, where Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad and Femke Bol put on a dazzling display of speed in each of their heats.But it was in the last race of the day that Jeruto made her mark in spectacular fashion in the women’s steeplechase, an event that made its World Championship debut in 2005. Jeruto, the 2011 world U18 champion and 2016 African champion, came into these championships with the world No.1 ranking, an undefeated record in 2022, and the second-best performance on the world list this year.Norah Jeruto cleared the last water jump, surged around the bend and accelerated down the final straight.No one could catch her. Timing her kick perfectly, Jeruto pulled away from her three challengers and captured gold in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on Wednesday night (20).It was a masterclass of controlled running by the 26-year-old Jeruto, who clocked a championship record and the third-fastest time in history to claim her first world title on day six of the championships at Eugene’s Hayward Field.The Kenyan-born Jeruto also secured the first ever World Championships gold in any event for Kazakhstan, the country she has represented since the start of 2022.Jeruto clocked 8:53.02, smashing the previous championship record by more than four seconds. Ethiopia’s Werkuha Getachew took silver in a national record of 8:54.61 and her compatriot Mekides Abebe grabbed bronze in a personal best 8:56.08.It was the first steeplechase in history in which three women had finished inside nine minutes.The day’s only other final also produced a first-time champion, but this one was a surprise, as China’s Feng Bin uncorked the throw of her life to upstage the favourites and win the women’s discus title.Feng’s winning effort of 69.12m – an improvement of more than three metres on her previous best – came on her first throw. Two-time world champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia took silver with a best throw of 68.45m and Olympic champion Valarie Allman of the US earned bronze with 68.30m.On a day of sweltering heat, with temperatures reaching 33C (92F), the Hayward Field track produced some red-hot times – notably in the women’s 400m hurdles semifinals, where Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad and Femke Bol put on a dazzling display of speed in each of their heats.But it was in the last race of the day that Jeruto made her mark in spectacular fashion in the women’s steeplechase, an event that made its World Championship debut in 2005. Jeruto, the 2011 world U18 champion and 2016 African champion, came into these championships with the world No.1 ranking, an undefeated record in 2022, and the second-best performance on the world list this year. (World Athletics)
