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Beatrice Chepkoech will represent Kenya at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021
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She won the 3000m Steeplechase final at the 2019 World Athletics Championships
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Chepkoech set a new world record for the event at the Monaco Diamond League in 2018
Beatrice Chepkoech is a Kenyan athlete who specialises in the 3000m steeplechase event, holding the official world record in the race since July 2018.
She became the first women to break 8:50.00 and 8:45.00 in the discipline and she has been a revelation since making the switch to track running in 2015.
One of the top names on the Team Kenya squad for Tokyo 2021, Chepkoech will bid to better her fourth placed finish at the Rio Olympics.
Kenyan athletics fans will expect Chepkoech to challenge for a medal in Japan this summer and this could be her final chance to race at an Olympic Games.
So if you’re looking at betting on the Olympics, consider Chepkoech to finish on the podium as the Kenyan runner will be desperate to make sure her trip to Japan is a successful one.
Chepkoech Out To Avenge Rio Fourth
Nobody wants to finish fourth at the Olympics but Chepkoech had to do just that at Rio 2016, with the Kenyan missing out on a medal despite winning her heat.
Chepkoech was ranked fifth in the world heading into the 2016 Olympics but had to settle for fourth behind Ruth Jebet, Hyvin Kiyeng and Emma Coburn.
With Ruth Jebet ruled out of the upcoming Games due to suspension, Chepkoech has a score to settle with Kiyeng and Coburn – but she has been in blistering form since 2018.
Since that fourth in Rio, Chepkoech has been crowned world champion in Doha in 2019 and she goes into Tokyo 2021 in arguably the form of her life.
As of July 13th 2021, Chepkoech is the number one ranked women’s 3000m steeplechase runner on the planet and she has a favourite’s chance at Tokyo 2021.
Chepkoech Breaks 5km World Record
In February 2021, Chepkoech recorded another world record in the 5km Monaco Run – just three years after she clocked the fastest ever 3000m steeplechase time.
The Kenyan athlete shaved a full second from Sifan Hassan’s official world record, which was also set in Monaco but in a women-only race in 2019.
Chepkoech had Netherlands’ Luuk Maas as her pacemaker on that occasion and smashed the previous record in a mixed gender race, which was held by compatriot Caroline Kipkirui.
With that effort coming earlier this year, it is fair to expect Chepkoech to be primed for gold at Tokyo 2021. Sports betting fans, take note…
Chepkoech Wins Gold In Doha
The greatest performance of her professional athletics career, Chepkoech ran her rivals into submission when clinching gold at the 2019 World Athletics Championship in Doha.
She finished almost five seconds clear of Coburn, who herself ran a personal best that day, but Chepkoech was on another level and nobody was going to beat her.
That run is perhaps the best form in the book heading into Tokyo 2021 but Chepkoech won’t be taking anything for granted ahead of this summer’s Games.
She has raced seven times in 2021, finishing on the podium in all seven events. Chepkoech is one of Team Kenya’s main medal hopes this year and punters will be following her progress closely throughout the heats.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Hassan Ammar / AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 20th July 2021
