Val Constien places 15th in Olympic 3,000-meter steeplechase final
The Battle Mountain alumna went with the early pace but wasn't able to hold on as Bahrain's Winfred Yavi took home the gold
Natacha Pisarenko/AP photo
Val Constien finished 15th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics. The Battle Mountain alumna finished the race in a time of 9 minutes, 34.08 seconds as Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi struck late to win in an Olympic record of 8:52.76. Defending Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai (8:53.34) took the silver and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich (8:55.15) won bronze.
“This is like a dream come true. It’s something special,” Yavi told reporters. “It means a lot to me and also to the country.”
Constien — who came into the event fresh off setting a U.S. Olympic Trials record of 9:03.22 — went with the hot early pace set by world-record holder Beatrice Chepkoech. The Ugandan runner came through the first kilometer in 2:55.1; Constien was in eighth, blasting through in 2:57.6, a split which is well under American record pace. A group of five tore away from the rest of the peloton in the second third of the race, reaching the 2-kilometer checkpoint at 5:57.6. At that point, Constien had fallen eight seconds back to 13th.
Yavi was able to close in 2:55, passing Chemutai to secure gold after the final barrier. The other American in the field, Courtney Wayment, finished in 12th (9:13.60).
