Bahrain's Ruth Jebet breaks 3000m steeplechase world record

Paris : Olympic champion Ruth Jebet of Bahrain smashed the world record in the 3,000m steeplechase, clocking 8min 52.78sec at the Diamond League meet in Paris yesterday.

The 19-year-old Kenyan-born athlete, who now runs for Bahrain, obliterated the previous record of 8:58.81 achieved by Russian Gulnara Galkina at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Jebet won Olympic gold in Rio with 8:59.75, the second fastest time ever in the event, having also clocked 8:59.97 at the Eugene meet in the United States last May.

Only Galkina and Jebet have ever dipped below the nine-minute mark in the event.

Jebet put on a sublime display of front running. She kept the hammer down and after hitting 2km in 5:54.16, it was clear she was going to get the world record or blow up in spectacular fashion.

Jebet kept churning around the track, jumping the barriers with her unique and unorthodox style. As she entered the final lap, the only question was how much would she break the record by.

“Today I’m very happy,” Athletics Weekly quoted Jebet as saying. “I tried many times to beat the world record and today we decided to push each other to go for a good time.

“I was not expecting such a big difference with the record. I think I finished my season today.”

Hyvin  Kiyeng crossed in 9:01.96 and Emma Coburn in a respectable 9:10.19, as the order of finish was the same as in Rio.