Video: 3000m steeple chase – Women’s – Nilani finishes sixth; Winfred Yavi of Bahrain win GOLD

It was another heartbreaking international outing for 3000m steeple chase runner Nilani Rathnayaka, as she finished sixth in the event.

Nilani won the Gold medal at the same venue earlier this year during an Asian Games test event, and was confident of running below the Sri Lanka record of 9 minutes 46.47 seconds, which she set early this month during the Nationals.

Nilani took the early lead in the race, but the fast paced race was not to her liking as she clocked 9 minutes 54.65 seconds, which is her second fastest time ever. Rathnayaka was visibly disappointed as she had targeted a time of 9 minutes 37 seconds, which she had written on her palm all these days as a reminder.

The race was won by another import from Africa, Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, who clocked 9:36.52 seconds. India’s Suda Singh won the Silver in a time of 9:40.03 seconds. Iranian Hossein Keyhani won the men’s steeple chase with a new games record of 8 minutes 22.79 seconds.

The worst experience Nilani faced at Asian/International level was at last year’s Asian Championship, where she was well set for a medal, but the slow paced race did not work in her favour and she gave up the race midway.