RIO DE JANEIRO: Teena­ger Ruth Jebet won Bahrain’s first ever Olympic gold medal on Monday, blowing away the competition in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase but narrowly missing out on the world record.

The 19-year-old stormed into the lead after a few laps and set a blistering pace to win in eight minutes 59.75 seconds, shy of the 8:58.81 world record set by Russia’s Gulnara Galkina at the 2008 Beijing Games.

“I’m happy to be a gold medallist, it was my first attempt to have a medal and I’m happy,” said Jebet.

“Today it was too hot for the athletes, it was not easy to run a good time but I tried my best and the track is good.

“Yesterday I saw the new record in the 400m (by Wayde van Niekerk) and in the 10,000m also a new world record so I thought why not a world record for me.”

Galkina and Kenyan-born Jebet, who was the world junior champion, are the only two women to have run a sub-nine minute time.

Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi, who won the world title in Beijing last year, was almost 50 metres behind in second place.

“I am so happy,” said Jepkemoi. “The last two laps were really hard. I just tried to stay strong and see if I could catch her.”

American Emma Coburn won United States’ first ever medal in the steeplechase as she grabbed bronze and a new national record.

“I feel very honoured,” Coburn said.

Coburn set the early pace before Jebet, who transferred her allegiance to Bahrain from her native Kenya in February 2013, surged with five laps to run of the seven-and-a-half lap race.

As temperatures hit 35 degrees Celsius (95F), her pace immediately split the field, Jepkemoi and fellow Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech just about staying in touch, with Coburn in fourth.

Jebet maintained her punishing pace as the bell rang for the final lap. Chepkoech fell off as Coburn moved up in her own battle for silver with Jepkemoi.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2016