Report30 Aug 2011


Women's 3000m Steeplechase - Final - World lead gives gold to Zaripova

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Yuliya Zaripova of Russia celebrates claiming gold in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase final during day four (© Getty Images)

Daegu, Korea - If at first you don’t succeed then try, try again. Two years ago at the last IAAF World Championships in Berlin Yuliya Zaripova produced a commendable performance but just fell short of her ultimate goal – settling for silver as Spain’s Marta Dominguez triumphed.


That was then, but today employing bold front running tactics she led for every step of the 3000m distance and simply ran the legs of the opposition with a quite masterful performance.


The 25-year-old Russian wiped 1.36 from her personal best and set a World leading time of 9:07.03 to add the World title to the European and IAAF Continental Cup titles she captured in 2010.


Behind, there was joy for Habiba Ghribi who set a Tunisian record of 9.11.97 and also become the first woman from that country to ever climb the medal podium at a World Championships.


Bronze went to the pre-event favourite Milcah Chemos, who crossed the line in 9:17.16. But this race was all about one woman – Zaripova.


The Russian moved purposefully to the front only for one of her main rivals to make a fatal error as early as the first barrier. Ethiopian record holder and Sofia Assefa fell with a bang on the landing side. She bounced straight back up in pursuit of the other athletes but had lost 20m on the leaders and the incident effectively ended her medal chances.


The leader was in no mood to hang around as she went through 1km in a speedy 3:00.70 with the 15-strong field in the final already spreadeagled. Turkey’s Binnaz Uslu was also prominent but all were conceding to Zaripova.


Running with beautifully balanced long stride the Russian continued to gallop relentlessly on and the opposition were starting to feel the heat. With three laps remaining only four other steeplechasers remained attached – Chemos, her fellow Kenyans Mercy Njoroge and Lydia Rotich with Ghribi taking closer order.


The 2km mark was reached in 6:04.36 and with 900m remaining the Tunisian and Rotich became detached. At the beginning of the back straight on the penultimate lap Zaripova seemed to gain extra momentum when coming off the barrier and suddenly opened a clear gap on her Kenyan pursuers.


The blonde haired Russian - who has only one competitive steeplechase behind her this year - scented victory. Hitting the bell she held a clear seven metres lead from Ghirbi who had battled back into the medal picture. A further 10m back were the fading Kenyan duo of Njoroge and Chemos locked in a private battle for bronze.


It was as if you were on the final lap with Zaripova remaining in total control of the race and Ghribi unable to close the gap. The only real question left to answer was would the gold medal winner elect set a Championship record? Alas, she fell just 0.46 short of the mark set by her compatriot Yekaterina Volkova when she landed the 2007 World title in Osaka, but no matter Zaripova won’t be complaining.


Her victory means that a Russian athlete holds the Olympic title, World record and now the World title not to mention the European crown in this event.  


Ghribi appeared to celebrate her silver medal as vigorously as Zaripova with Chemos, who had racked up eight successive steeplechase wins before today, losing her unbeaten streak in the most important race of the year. Chemos’ team-mate Njoroge, who had lost a shoe, took fourth in 9:17.16. Rotich, the third Kenyan, was fifth (9:25.74).


A special mention should also go to Assefa, who despite that very early fall, battled on valiantly to claim sixth in 9:28.24.


Steve Landells for the IAAF


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