Faith Cherotich crowned a near-perfect Wanda Diamond League season on Thursday, walking away with not one, but two new awards for her mantlepiece.
The Kenyan star claimed her second successive Diamond Trophy at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich, successfully defending her series title after victory in Brussels in 2024.
Her winning time of 8:57.24 was also the best performance by a female athlete under the age of 23 at this year’s final, making her the winner of the Jesse Owens Rising Star Award.
A collaboration between the Owens family, the Jesse Owens Foundation and the Wanda Diamond League, the award honours the legacy of the one of the sport’s biggest names while also highlighting the best upcoming talent in track and field.
Cherotich was presented with the award by Owens’ grandchildren Gina Hemphill-Strachan and Marlene Dortch alongside fellow 2025 winner Letsile Tebogo.
It was a fitting way to end a season in which the 21-year-old has established herself as the woman to beat in the 3000m steeplechase.
Olympic bronze medallist in 2024, Cherotich has gone from strength to strength in the last 12 months, notching up five Diamond League victories and two series titles.
Four of those wins have come this season, with the Kenyan showing dominant from the start to finish in the 2025 campaign.
She began her Diamond League season with a world lead of 9:05.08 in Doha before improving on that with a meeting record of 9:02.60 in Oslo.
In Paris a few weeks later, she posted a new personal best of 8:53.37, before an enthralling showdown with Olympic champion Winfred Yavi in Eugene.
Yavi inflicted Cherotich’s only defeat of the season on her in that race, but the Kenyan still came away happy with a new PB of 8:48.71.
That put her in good stead for the Diamond League Final, where she charged to a comfortable victory in 8:57.24.
This means a lot to me. It really motivates me for the World Championships in Tokyo, where my ambition is to win. On the Diamond League stage, we are already at world level, so I feel that I am dong ok,” she said.
About the Jesse Owens Rising Star Award
The Jesse Owens Rising Star Award will honour the best performing male and female athletes aged 23 or under at each Wanda Diamond League Final.
The award, a collaboration between the Owens family, the Jesse Owens Foundation and the Wanda Diamond League, aims to celebrate young talent in athletics and honour the legacy of one of global track and field’s most iconic figures.
Jesse Owens was 23 years old when he won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi-era Berlin, writing himself indelibly into the sporting history books.
