Kenyan-born Winfred Yavi makes Asian Games history with a 10,000m, steeplechase and 5000m treble
The Bahrain runner, born in Nairobi, became the first athlete to win all three distance titles at one Asian Games, in Nagoya.
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In short: Winfred Yavi, the Kenyan-born Olympic steeplechase champion who runs for Bahrain, won the 10,000m, the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya. According to the Qatar Tribune, she is the first athlete to win all three at one Asian Games.
Winfred Yavi has done something no one had done before at the Asian Games. The Bahrain runner, who was born in Nairobi and hails from Makueni County, won the 10,000m, the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m at the 2026 Games in Nagoya, Japan. The Qatar Tribune reports that she is the first athlete to win all three titles at a single Asian Games.
Three races, three golds
| Event | Result | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000m | Gold, ahead of Nozomi Tanaka (Japan, 32:41.54) and Seema Kumari (India) | 32:39.18 |
| 3000m steeplechase | Gold and a Games record, ahead of Norah Jeruto Tanui (Kazakhstan) and Parul Chaudhary (India) | 9:04.36 |
| 5000m | Gold, ahead of Nozomi Tanaka (Japan, 15:11.65) and Parul Chaudhary (India, 15:14.61) | 15:10.18 |
The treble began with the 10,000m on Thursday 24 September, where Yavi held off Japan's Nozomi Tanaka by just over two seconds. Three days later, in her specialist event, the steeplechase, she won in 9:04.36, taking almost 14 seconds off her own Games record of 9:18.28 from Hangzhou, according to Bahrain's Daily Tribune. It was her third Asian Games steeplechase title in a row.
The 5000m on Monday 28 September was the hardest of the three. World Athletics reports that Tanaka challenged her all the way to the line, and Yavi won by 1.47 seconds in 15:10.18.
"Winning three gold medals for Bahrain is an indescribable feeling," Yavi said, according to the Qatar Tribune.
From Nairobi to Bahrain
Yavi switched her allegiance to Bahrain as a teenager and became eligible to compete for the country in August 2016. She has since won the 2023 world steeplechase title in Budapest and Olympic gold in Paris in 2024. The Nagoya golds take her Asian Games total to six: the steeplechase in 2018, the 1500m and steeplechase in 2023, and three this year.