Two Kenyans storm into women’s steeplechase final, eye medals
Two Kenyan athletes have qualified for tomorrow’s 3000m women’s steeplechase finals after tense heats at Stade de France, where Jackline Chepkoech missed out.
The duo, reigning World Record holder Beatrice Chepkoech and World Under-20 champion Faith Cherotich, will now carry Kenya’s hopes for medals in the final set for 10:14 pm Kenyan time.
“I’m happy because everyone is cheering for me and I love it here. I am looking forward to the finals now. At the Tokyo Olympics, I was not in good shape, but now I can say I am in good shape. I don’t fear anyone and I’m not under any pressure,” Beatrice remarked.
She blew the field away in her race, clocking 9:13.56 seconds
Youngster Cherotich qualified for the final after finishing second in her race with a time of 9:10.57. The race was won by reigning Olympic champion Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai in a time of 9:10.51.
“I’m happy with my semi-finals performance today. My target was to reach the final, and I’m there now, so we can now see what happens on Tuesday,” Cherotich stated.
She added, “This is my debut at the Olympics and running with the seniors, and I have nothing to be afraid of. They are the ones under pressure from me. I was blocked in the race but found my way out and will be more cautious during the Tuesday final.”
The third Kenyan athlete in the race, Jackline Chepkoech, finished last and missed out on the final ticket.
Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach yesterday defended boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan amid controversy over their gender, stating that they both meet the “clear definition of a woman” and underlined that “we are not going to engage in a politically motivated culture war”.
Bach’s statement comes amid a fierce gender row over the two in the boxing event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The controversy erupted after Algeria’s Khelif defeated Italy’s Angela Carini in 46 seconds in the welterweight round of 16. Boxer Lin Yu-Ting was also at the center of the controversy alongside Khelif.
The Chinese Taipei fighter won her women’s featherweight (57kg) unanimous decision over Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova.
Bach condemned the “hate speech” directed at both athletes and insisted there was no doubt about their status as women.
“We have two female boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have women’s passports and who have been competing as women for many years,” Bach observed. “That’s the clear definition of a woman.”
“What we see now is that some people want to hijack the definition of a woman,” the German stated.
“I can only invite them to come up with a new definition based on the science of who is a woman and how someone who was born, grew up, and competed as a woman cannot be considered a woman.
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James Waindi
BA in Communication and Political Science Editor at People Daily
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