Day of reckoning for Chemutai in the 3000m steeplechase final

Peruth Chemutai casually glanced at her opponents on the home straight as she won her heat in 9:10.51, which ended up being the best time from the three heats on Monday.

It was an easy stroll for her from start to finish in the heat which also had Kenyan Faith Cherotich who came second in 9:10.57 and Germany’s Felicitas Gesa Krause who qualified with a season’s best 9:10.68.

USA’s Courtney Wayment and Ethiopia’s Muleta Lomi with a personal best of 9:10.73 also made it to the 7-lap race.

But in Tuesday's final she must produce the same confidence and an even more energetic finish as she faces some of the best athletes like Winfred Yavi from Bahrain and Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) ranked first and second in the world respectively.

Yavi and Chepkoech who won heats two and three in 9:15.11 and in 9:13.56 could be the biggest stumbling blocks to Chemutai’s Olympic title defence ambitions. Still, she is as determined and confident going into today’s final.

“I don’t care who is in the final. I’m only focused on running without any pressure. I’m now in good shape and looking forward to defending my title,” Chemutai said after qualifying for today’s final.

She is also drawing inspiration from Joshua Cheptegei who called her and advised her to stay calm while at it.

The final also has Elizabeth Bird, Sembo Almayew, Lea Mayer, Norah Jeruto (Kenya), Irene Sanchez-Escribano (Spain), Alice Finot (France), Alicja Konieczek, Lomi Muleta, Felicitas Krause Gesa and Valerie Constien from the USA.

It could end in another photo finish like what happened in the men’s 100m final on Sunday night where USA’s Noah Lyles the six-time world gold medallist dipped to victory in a personal best of 9.79, pipping Jamaica’s world leader Kishane Thompson by just five-thousandths of a second.

USA's 2022 world champion and Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Fred Kerley bagged bronze, clocking 9.81 – 0.01 ahead of Akani Simbine in a South African record.