Winfred Mutile Yavi, 25, is a Kenyan-born Bahraini female athlete who just won the 2024 Olympic gold in the 3000-meter steeplechase, setting a new Olympic record. Mutile was born and bred in Makueni County.
When did she become an athlete? How did she end up as a Bahraini?
Winnie the winner
This is not her first international medal. Winfred also won the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championship where she beat Beatrice Chepkoech from Kenya and finished fourth at both the 2019 & 2022 World Athletics Championships.
During the 2018 Asian Games, Yavi won the gold medal. The following year, 2019 Asian Athletic Championships, she took home bronze in the 1, 500 meters and gold in both the 5, 000 meters and 3, 000 meters steeplechases.
Where It All Started
Born in Kenya, Makueni County, Winfred Yavi changed her nationality and transferred to Bahrain when she was just 15. She became eligible to compete for Bahrain in August 2016.
Her medal-hunting spree began when she first competed in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics when she was 17. Although she finished 8th, she reached the steeplechase final, with a personal best time of 9:22.67.
Why did Winnie Yavi change her nationality?
Yavi, speaking to a local newspaper, said she did a lot of trials in Kenya to get a chance to be on the national team, but she never made it due to very stiff competition.
“I used to go to the Kenya team trials, and I didn’t qualify… It was my first priority; I was ready to represent my country,” Yavi says.
“The competition was stiff. You know that in Kenya we have a lot of athletes, and to get that chance, you should at least enter the Kenyan team. You can get into the Kenyan team, but you find that they take only two people; if you are number two or number four, you miss out. I was totally ready, but I never got a chance.”
She revealed that in 2016, after months of hard work and training, she emerged third in the youth 3, 000 meters steeplechase trials. Only the first two were selected to represent Kenya. Yavi, still determined to take on the world, admits she was given a connection by a Kenyan in the sports sector to represent the Asian country, where she ended up adopting nationality.
Her decision was majorly driven by her pursuit of better opportunities in athletics, a chance that was often elusive in Kenya.
A fortune on the track
Winfred earned over Ksh1.4 million days after winning two gold medals at the 2019 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The champions of the Asian Games were awarded $5,000 for gold, $3,000 for silver and $2,000 for bronze.
She won her fourth 3,000m steeplechase at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August 2023. Her gold win earned, the Makueni-born runner, a cool $70,000 (over Ksh10 million). She also banked a combined $30,000 from winning three Diamond League races that season. Her combined efforts have been very rewarding, to say the least.
Her Future Endeavours
The 25-year-old, a world champion, believes she’s just halfway in her career peak. Yavi is already considering racing more events beyond her traditional steeplechase.
She is confident of her ability to shift to different events. Yavi is slowly transitioning to other athletic events. She is considering pivoting to 5,000m or 10,000m road races, and in the future maybe even a marathon.
This is not the first time a Kenyan athlete has switched citizenship to represent other countries. The athletes are looking for financial incentives and to compete with nations that invest heavily in athletics for a chance to appear on the world stage.
For her gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, she is set to take home KSh53 million, which is what Bahrain rewards athletes who win gold.
