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Peruth Chemutai
Ugandan Peruth Chemutai got the defence of her Olympic 3,000 metres
steeplechase title off on the right track in Paris on Sunday by cruising
through the opening heat.
Kenyan world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech handily won her heat
while 2023 world champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain also advanced to the
final.
There were few surprises when Sunday's programme kicked off at the Stade de France.
Chemutai went to the front of the pack almost immediately and never
let up in a confident performance, crossing the finish in a comfortable 9
minutes, 10.51 seconds ahead of Kenya's Faith Cherotich, the 2023 world
bronze medallist.
Yavi took a different tactic in the second heat, biding her time at
the back of the pack before making her move around the halfway mark and
holding on down the final straight to finish in 9:15.11 ahead of
Ethiopian Sembo Almayew.
With Chepkoech (9:13.56) all by herself with two laps to go in the
final heat, the battle for second saw the Parisian crowd erupt into
cheers as France's Alice Finot got the better of German Lea Meyer in the
final few metres.
