World Championships in Tokyo : Flavie Renouard Determined to Come Back Stronger in the 3000m Steeplechase
17/09/2025 17:03Flavie Renouard lived up to expectations, finishing thirteenth in a fiercely contested world final dominated by Kenya’s Faith Cherotich and Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, who relinquished her crown in Tokyo. The French athlete nevertheless enjoyed an excellent championship, having taken fourth place in the opening 3000m steeplechase heat on Monday, where she set a new personal best of 9:14.69.
« I really didn’t give up, I fought until the very end. I even managed to overtake one runner. I truly gave everything I had left. I have no regrets, even though of course I would have liked a better place. »
Flavie Renouard, World Championships Finalist
| Renouard Falls but Rises with Courage
In a highly competitive final, with six athletes running under 9 minutes, the Frenchwoman quickly found herself at the back of the pack. Yet she did not clock an insignificant time, completing her seven and a half laps in 9:25.15. No new personal best for the athlete from Normandy, but a fine performance where she gave her all in her first World Championships. After falling in the second water jump, she appeared slightly disappointed in the mixed zone : “It was a pretty mixed final because of the fall. But I really didn’t give up, I fought until the end. I managed to overtake one girl. I truly gave everything I had left. I have no regrets, even if of course I would have liked a better placing. It was still an incredible experience. I never thought about giving up, not once. It never even crossed my mind. I got back up as quickly as possible. I also want to thank everyone I heard in the stadium, because that really gives you strength to fight until the very end and try to wear France’s colors as proudly as possible. These are extraordinary World Championships. Even on the human side, with the staff, there was real energy, we truly felt supported. The performance in the final leaves a slightly bitter taste, but I’ll come back even stronger in the years to come,” said the middle-distance runner from Caen AC, leaving full of hope and determination to return to training.
It is worth noting the absence of the leading figure in French 3000m steeplechase, Alice Finot. The CA Montreuil 93 athlete, who trains in Galicia in northwestern Spain, finished fourth at the Paris Olympic Games and holds the European record in the 3000m steeplechase. She withdrew a few days before the start of the competition due to a right calf injury sustained in early August at the French Championships.
| Faith Cherotich, the New Queen of the 3000m Steeplechase
Just minutes before the women’s 3000m steeplechase world final, the question remained whether the world record set by Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech in 2018 might finally fall. Olympic and reigning world champion Winfred Yavi, who had come within seven hundredths of that mark at the Rome Diamond League on August 30 with a time of 8:44.39, also setting a new Asian record, seemed to hold all the cards.
The race started at a blistering pace, right on world-record tempo (around 8:45). The four favorites, Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai, Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto, Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich, immediately took control, hitting the first kilometer under nine minutes (even faster than the men’s final two days earlier). But after Chemutai’s fall, only three contenders remained with two laps to go.
At the bell, Yavi led, closely shadowed by Cherotich, who refused to let her pull away. The Kenyan surged past on the final barrier and powered to victory in 8:51.59, a new championship record. At just 21 years old, the Paris Olympic bronze medalist Faith Cherotich claimed her first world title.
Winfred Yavi took second in 8:56.46, while Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew completed the podium with a personal best of 8:58.86. Overwhelmed, the former world junior champion let her tears flow as she celebrated her first global gold. Norah Jeruto faded to sixth, and Peruth Chemutai did not finish.
The second-fastest women’s 3000m steeplechase final in World Championships history proved intense, marked by numerous falls, including that of 2021 Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai, who did not finish. France’s sole representative, Flavie Renouard, also fell, but she got back up to complete her race and savor the moment in a packed stadium.
Sabine LOEB
Journalist
