World champion Yavi considering multiple events after double gold at Asiad
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E-mail Xinhua, October 3, 2023
HANGZHOU, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- For most of the over 12,000 athletes at the Hangzhou Asian Games, winning a title is already a big success, but taking two on the track is something else entirely.
Bahrain's Winfred Mutile Yavi, who has clinched two gold medals in Hangzhou, believes she is just halfway to her career peak.
After cruising to Asiad victories in both women's 1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase, the 23-year-old world champion is considering racing more events beyond steeplechase.
"It means a lot for me (to achieve golden double)," Yavi said after defending her women's 3,000m steeplechase in 9:18.28 on Monday.
Just a day before, the Kenyan-born Bahraini grabbed her first Asiad gold in the women's 1,500m in 4:11.65, over six seconds slower than her personal best of 4:05.54.
"It means that I'm capable of shifting to different events. I don't need to stay in the steeplechase for a long time. I can graduate slowly, slowly to different events," Yavi said after securing her second gold.
Her result in women's 3,000m steeplechase also surpassed the previous Games record of 9:31.36 set by her compatriot Ruth Jebet in 2014.
"I had a lot of pressure (with people) saying 'you're going to win', but anything could happen. So I was careful and just tried to break the Asian Games record. I'm happy that I fulfilled my dreams today," said a thrilled Yavi.
Yavi stunned the world by winning the 3,000m steeplechase at her fourth worlds in Budapest in August. She overtook the world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya over the final lap, finishing in the fourth-fastest time ever at 8:54.29.
Coming into the Asiad as the world champion, Yavi said the world title gave her more experience while double gold in Hangzhou makes her dare to imagine more.
"Maybe I'll do 5,000m or 10,000m road races, and in the future maybe even a marathon," she said.
The endurance runner didn't talk about her expectations about the Paris Olympics, where the entry standard for the women's 3,000m is 9:23.00, while the women's 1,500m is 4:02.50. Enditem
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