NAIROBI, Kenya, May 23, 2026 – Two legs down in the 2026 Diamond League season and world 3000m steeplechase champion Faith Cherotich is yet to hit top gear.
Not much should be read in the fact that the youngster has lost to two of her closest rivals, Ugandan Peruth Chemutai and Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi in Shanghai and Xiamen.
At the season opener in Shanghai last Saturday, Cherotich and Chemutai were locked in a neck-to-neck battle for the top spot, the 2020 Olympic champion emerging victorious after clocking a meet record and world lead of 8:51.47.
On the other, Cherotich had to make peace with second place after timing a season’s best (SB) of 8:51.48.
Fast forward to Xiamen and Cherotich’s hope of redemption evaporated in thin air after clocking 8:52.53 in third place.
Chemutai made it two out of two with another victory, clocking 8:51.06 – another meet record and world lead – as Olympic champion Yavi ran 8:51.54 to finish second in her first race of the season.
Speaking afterwards, Cherotich was blunt with her reason for a not-so good performance.
Nonetheless, she is confident of resuming her peak form in time for the Ultimate Championships in September this year.
“The weather is so hot and humid for me, but the audience and the atmosphere here is awesome. My goal for this season is the Ultimate Championships in September. I want to break the Asian record. Tonight’s race is difficult for me and I think the result is not bad,” the 2022 World Under 20 champion said.
The next leg of the prestigious competition is set for May 31 (next Sunday) on African soil, specifically the Moroccan city of Rabat.
Should she enlist to run at the event, it would offer her another chance to win the latest round of her three-way rivalry with Chemutai and Yavi.
