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Winfred Yavi
OLY
	Yavi at the ISTAF Berlin in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Winfred Mutile Yavi
Born	December 31, 1999 (age 25); Nairobi, Kenya
Height	1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	49 kg (108 lb)
Sport
Country	Bahrain
Sport	Athletics
Event	3000 metres steeplechase
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	3000 m: 8:39.64i (Val-de-Reuil 2020); 3000 m steeplechase: 8:44.39 (Rome 2024) AR; 5000 m: 14:41.99 (Liège 2024) NR;
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Bahrain
Olympic Games
World Championships
Diamond League
Asian Games
Asian Championships
Military World Games
Islamic Solidarity Games
Arab Championships
World U20 Championships
Representing Asia-Pacific
Continental Cup

Winfred Mutile Yavi OLY^{[citation needed]} (Arabic: وينفريد يافي, born 31 December 1999)^[1] is a Kenyan-born Bahraini female athlete who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Currently the second fastest athlete in history at the distance with a personal best of 8:44.39, she won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, setting a new Olympic record. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Career

Yavi hails from Ukia, Makueni County.^[2] Born in Kenya, Winfred Yavi transferred her allegiance to Bahrain at the age of fifteen, becoming eligible to compete for her adopted nation in August 2016.^[3] She competed in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2017 World Championships at the age of 17, and finished eighth in a personal best time of 9:22.67.^[1] Yavi was the bronze medallist in her specialist event at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships.^[4] She also improved her personal best significantly in 2018, running 9:10.74 at the Monaco Diamond League.

In 2019, Yavi won gold in both the 5000 m and 3000 m steeplechase, as well as a bronze in the 1500 m at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships.^[5] She set a new personal best of 9:07.23 in finishing third at the Müller Grand Prix. She finished fourth in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2019 World Championships held in Doha.^[6] She won a gold medal in the 3000 m steeplechase and a silver medal in the 5000 m at the World Military Games.^[1]

Yavi ran a new personal best of 9:02.64 in finishing third at the 2021 Doha Diamond League.^[7] She finished tenth in the final at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.^[8]

In 2022, Yavi ran her first sub-9 minute 3000 m steeplechase at the Prefontaine Classic, running a time of 8:58.71. She followed this up by winning the Paris Diamond League with a time of 8:56.55.^[9] She finished fourth in the final at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.^[10]

The following year, Yavi won gold in her specialty event at the 2023 World Championships with a personal best time of 8:54.29.^[11] She went onto win at the Zurich Diamond League,^[12] and the Prefontaine Classic where she improved her personal best to 8:50.66, the second fastest time in history at the time.^[13] Yavi ended her season by winning gold in both the 1500 m and 3000 m steeplechase at the Asian Games.^[14]^[15]

In June 2024, Yavi set a new 5000 m personal best of 14:41.99 in Liège.^[16] She won gold in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2024 Paris Olympics in an Olympic record time of 8:52.76.^[17]^[18] She won at the Rome Diamond League in a time of 8:44.39, breaking her own national record by over 6 seconds and only missing out on the world record by 0.07 seconds.^[19] Yavi went on to place second at the Diamond League final in Brussels, finishing behind Faith Cherotich.^[20]

Statistics

All information from World Athletics profile.^[1]

Personal bests

1500 metres – 4:05.54 (Nairobi 2022)
3000 metres – 9:10.5h (Embu 2016)
- 3000 metres indoor – 8:39.64 (Val-de-Reuil 2020) Asian record
2000 metres steeplechase – 5:56.83 (Berlin 2019) AB
- 2000 metres steeplechase indoor – 5:45.09 (Liévin 2021) AB
3000 metres steeplechase – 8:44.39 AR (Rome 2024)

International competitions

Representing Bahrain
Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time	Notes
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	8th	3000 m s'chase	9:22.67	PB
2018	World U20 Championships	Tampere, Finland	3rd	3000 m s'chase	9:23.47
	Asian Games	Jakarta, Indonesia	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:36.52
	Continental Cup	Ostrava, Czech Republic	3rd	3000 m s'chase	9:17.86	^{[note 1]}
2019	Arab Championships	Cairo, Egypt	1st	5000 m	17:15.08
	Arab Championships	Cairo, Egypt	1st	3000 m s'chase	10:07.62
	Asian Championships	Doha, Qatar	3rd	1500 m	4:16.18	SB
			1st	5000 m	15:28.87	PB
			1st	3000 m s'chase	9:46.18	SB
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	4th	3000 m s'chase	9:05.68	PB
	Military World Games	Wuhan, China	2nd	5000 m	15:15.93
	Military World Games	Wuhan, China	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:19.24
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	10th	3000 m s'chase	9:19.74	^{[note 2]}
2022	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	4th	3000 m s'chase	9:01.31
2022	Islamic Solidarity Games	Konya, Turkey	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:34:57
2023	Arab Games	Oran, Algeria	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:04.58
	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	3000 m s'chase	8:54.29
	Asian Games	Hangzhou, China	1st	1500 m	4:11.65
	Asian Games	Hangzhou, China	1st	3000 m s'chase	9:18.28
2024	Olympic Games	Paris, France	1st	3000 m s'chase	8:52.76	OR PB