‘She has a lot to be proud of’: A closer look at Courtney Wayment’s Olympic steeplechase final

Courtney Wayment , the former BYU national champion by way of Davis High, finished 12th in the Olympic finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase Tuesday in Paris.

“I ran the smartest race that I could have and I am very proud. ... There is more to come and I am excited for the future.”

Courtney Wayment

Wayment, like fellow American Valerie Constien, succumbed to the blistering pace set by her African rivals. Kenyan native Winfred Yavi, representing Bahrain, swept past defending Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda in the homestretch, finishing with an Olympic-record time of 8:52.76.

Chemutai was second in 8:53.34 and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich third in 8:55.15. All three produced times that would rank them among the top six of all time.

“It was definitely a hot pace on the front end,” said Wayment’s coach, Diljeet Taylor . “So the last 600 was hard. But 12th in that field is very good. She was the top American. She has a lot to be proud of.”

Wayment and Constien got swept up in the fast pace even while running in the second pack, but ultimately paid the price. Wayment finished with a solid time of 9:13.60, but that left her some 20 seconds behind the winner.

She held up better than Constien, who finished 15th (or last), with a pedestrian time of 9:34.08. Both had hoped for more. Constien and Wayment finished 1-2 at the U.S. Olympic trials in June, with Constien setting a meet record of 9:03.22, and Wayment running a personal record of 9:06.50.

“I ran the smartest race that I could have and I am very proud.” said Wayment. “There is more to come and I am excited for the future.”

The Olympic steeplechase final — a 7 1/2-lap race over water jumps and heavy barriers — was business as usual. African steeplechasers have won 10 of the last 12 Olympic medals and 19 of 30 world championship medals. They took five of the top six places in Tuesday’s race (Yavi is a native of Kenya who switched her citizenship to Bahrain).

Kenneth Rooks , another BYU athlete, will face the same challenge when he runs in the finals of the men’s steeplechase Wednesday in Paris. African men have won the last 10 Olympic finals, nine of them from Kenya.

Only two Americans have ever medaled in the women’s steeplechase — Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs. They were unable to compete this year because of injuries.

Wayment’s 12th-place finish is the highest Olympic finish by a BYU female athlete since Amy Palmer finished eighth in the hammer throw in 2000. Wayment and Whittni Morgan , who finished 14th in the 5,000-meter run Monday, are only the fourth and fifth BYU female athletes to advance out of the early rounds to the finals.