WCH Tokyo 25 facts and figures: women's 3000m steeplechase

Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists

2023: Winfred Yavi (BRN) – 8:54.29, Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) – 8:58.98, Faith Cherotich (KEN) – 9:00.69
2022: Norah Jeruto (KAZ) – 8:53.02, Werkwuha Getachew (ETH) – 8:54.61, Mekides Abebe (ETH) – 8:56.08
2019: Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) – 8:57.84, Emma Coburn (USA) – 9:02.35, Gesa-Felicitas Krause (GER) – 9:03.30

Last two sets of Olympic medallists

Fastest winning times in World Athletics Championships history

8:53.02 – Norah Jeruto (KAZ), 2022
8:54.29 – Winfred Yavi (BRN), 2023
8:57.84 – Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN), 2019

Slowest winning time in World Athletics Championships history

9:19.11 – Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN), 2015

Best marks on Japanese soil

9:01.45 1 Peruth Chemutai (UGA) - Tokyo (Olympics) 04.08.2021
9:04.79 2 Courtney Frerichs (USA) - Tokyo (Olympics) 04.08.2021
9:05.39 3 Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN)) - Tokyo (Olympics) 04.08.2021

Best marks on Asian soil

8:55.40 1 Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) - Xiamen 20.04.2024
8:57.84 1 Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) - Doha (World Championships) 30.09.2019
8:58.81 1 Gulnara Samitova-Galkina (RUS) - Beijing (Olympics) 17.08.2018

Biggest winning margins

5.19s – 2011: Habiba Ghribi (TUN) – 9:11.97, Milcah Chemos (KEN) – 9:17.16
4.69s – 2023: Winfred Yavi (BRN) – 8:54.29, Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) – 8:58.98
4.51s – 2019: Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) – 8:57.84, Emma Coburn (USA) – 9:02.35

​​Smallest winning margins

0.13s – 2015: Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN) – 9:19.11, Habiba Ghribi (TUN) – 9:19.24
0.18s – 2009: Yuliya Zarudneva (RUS) – 9:08.39, Milcah Chemos (KEN) – 9:08.57
0.90s – 2013: Milcah Chemos (KEN) – 9:11.65, Lydia Chepkurui (KEN) – 9:12.55

Best mark by round

Heat — 9:01.54 Norah Jeruto (KAZ), 2022
Final — 8:53.02 Norah Jeruto (KAZ), 2022

Multiple winners

None

Winners by country

3 - Kenya
2 - Russia
1 - Uganda
1 - Tunisia
1 - United States
1 - Kazakhstan
1 - Bahrain

Five historic facts

• Dorcus Inzikuru (UGA) became the inaugural world champion in Helsinki in 2005, winning in 9:18.24. She became Uganda’s first ever world champion, male or female, in any event
• Habiba Ghribi (TUN) became Tunisia’s first ever world champion, albeit retroactively after initial winner Yuliya Zaripova (RUS) was DQ’d for a doping violation, with victory in Daegu in 2011 
• The last three world 3000m steeplechase finals, and the last Olympic 3000m steeplechase final, have all been won with times inside the 9:00-barrier
• Kenya has won 12 of the 30 medals on offer in the women's 3000m steeplechase in World Championships history
• At 19y/45d, Faith Cherotich (KEN) became the event’s youngest medallist when she won bronze in 2023

Potential storylines

• Can Winfred Yavi (BRN) or Norah Jeruto (KAZ) become the first athlete in World Championships history to win two world titles in the women’s 3000m steeplechase?
• Can Sembo Alamayew (ETH) become the first Ethiopian to win a 3000m steeplechase title, men's or women's, at the World Championships?
• Can Gesa Feliticas Krause (GER) make a record seventh world final? She made every final between 2011-2022 before missing 2023 on maternity leave 
• Will we see the first ever sub-9:00 clocking on Japanese soil in Tokyo 2025?
• Marta Serrano (ESP) will be representing Spain in the 3000m steeplechase. Her father Antonio ran in the 5000m at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo