Women's 3000m Steeplechase Final

Kenya's Purity Kirui ran a PB 9:36.34 to become the fourth Kenyan winner of the women's steeplechase in a very fast race run after the rain stopped at Stade de Moncton.

Kirui, along with her teammate Lucia Muangi and Ethiopians Birtukan Adamu and Almaz Ayana, controlled the early pace. A minor catastrophe occurred at the very first water barrier as Mexico's Azucena Rodriguez fell, bringing down Muangi as well as much of the rest of the field, excepting Kirui, Adamu and Ayana, who were ahead of the chaos.

Kirui took advantage of this to open up the pace, and quickly it was Kirui, Muangi, Adamu, Ayana and Canada's Genevieve Lalonde in the front. Lalonde held on through the next two laps but began to slip off with just under four laps remaining, despite the vocal encouragement of the crowd on both stands.

Muangi, who was racing barefoot, slipped again on the 5th water jump, and Kirui split up the pack immediately afterward. Adamu held on longest, but then Kirui was away and on her way to gold.

Behind her, the places shuffled. Muangi put on a ferocious last-lap surge to overtake first Ayana and then Adamu, but without spikes was unable to sprint with Adamu on the homestretch, ceding silver to the Ethiopian. Muangi held on for bronze. Behind them, Gesa Krause of Germany, who had overtaken Lalonde in the closing kilometre, also caught Ayana and took fourth.

The fast early pace meant the race was littered with records. All three medalists set PBs. Krause ran a German junior record of 9:47.78. Lalonde in 6th ran a NACAC Area Record of 9:57.74, naturally lowering her Canadian junior record set on Tuesday morning. Giulia Martinelli of Italy ran a national junior record of 10:05.43 in seventh. Estephania Tobal of Spain ran a national junior record of 10:09.66 in eighth. And even Rodriguez, 11th in 10:35.38, set a Mexican junior record.