Faith Cherotich Smashes Record as She Cruises to Kenya’s Second Gold at Commonwealth Games

Faith Cherotich delivered an impressive performance to secure Kenya’s second gold medal in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Former Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai took the early lead, with world champion Faith Cherotich closely tracking her.

Chemutai arrived in strong form after a dominant Diamond League campaign, claiming victories in Xiamen and Shanghai.

Faith Cherotich, returning from an early-season injury, was determined to stay with Peruth Chemutai throughout the race.

Faith Cherotich then took charge of the race and controlled the tempo with about 600m to run but she had not unleashed her finishing kick yet.

As they headed to the homestretch, Faith Cherotich had now opened up a gap and was sprinting to the finish line, widening the gap. On her part, Peruth Chemutai was now fading and had running in third-place.

The Kenyan’s hard work paid off as she crossed the finish line first in a Commonwealth Games record time of 9:01.76. Elise Thorner held on to finish second in a personal best time of 9:05.45.

Peruth Chemutai, who had done much in controlling the pace was forced to round up the podium in 9:09.96. Celestine Biwott, the other Kenyan in the race, finished seventh in 9:33.61.

Meanwhile, competing in the women’s 800m semifinal, Lilian Odira produced an impressive kick to win the first heat.

The reigning world champion crossed the finish line in a time of 1:59.39 ahead of Shafiqua Maloney who came in second in 1:59.81. The race saw Jamaica’s Kelly-Ann Beckford round up the podium in 1:59.96.

The second heat saw world 800m silver medalist Georgia Hunter-Bell take a comfortable win in 1:59.88 ahead of Sarah Billings (2:00.05). Botswana’s Oratile Nowe completed the podium in 2:00.60 as Kenya’s Janet Jepkemoi struggled to make a mark as she finished a distant fifth in 2:02.08.

The men’s long jump was not a walk in the park for Isaac Kirwa Yego who was forced to settle for 12th place after clearing 7.28m.

The event was won by Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle who cleared an impressive 8.15m ahead of India’s Sreeshankar (8.09m). Stephen Mackenzie sealed the podium after producing an 8.08m jump.

The men’s 400m hurdles also saw Kenya struggle to make a mark as sole representative Kipkorir Rotich finished fourth in his semifinal heat and missed out on a place in the final.