PARIS, Aug 7, (Xinhua): Bahrain's Yavi Winfred broke the Olympic record to win gold in the women's 3,000m steeplechase at the Paris Games. The 24-year-old completed the grueling event in 8 minutes, 52.76 seconds, eclipsing the previous Games record of 8:58.81 set by Russian Gulnara Samitova-Galkina at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Uganda's Peruth Chemutai took silver in 8:53.34 and Kenyan Faith Cherotich claimed bronze in 8:55.15.

"This is a dream come true. It has been such a hard journey to get to this point," said Winfred, the reigning world champion. "I am so happy for me but also for the Bahraini people and the federation who have supported me since I started working with them." Winfred admitted that she was confident about claiming the gold medal before the race, "In the final, I was expecting something good. I just felt good about the race. I believed in myself that I have that finishing speed."