Winfred Yavi and Faith Cherotich will resume one of athletics’ most thrilling rivalries when they meet in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the second Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season in Xiamen on May 23.
The two women meet for the 12th time in four seasons in athletics’ premier one-day series, in a race which includes two Olympic champions, two world champions and all three medallists from Paris 2024.
Bahrain’s Yavi and Kenya’s Cherotich have dominated the steeplechase in recent years, picking up three Diamond League titles and 12 Diamond League wins between them in the last three seasons.
Cherotich is the reigning world and Wanda Diamond League champion, having won the Diamond Trophy in both 2024 and 2025.
Yavi is the reigning Olympic champion and the second-fastest woman in history in the 3000m steeplechase behind world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech.
Xiamen will be their 12th meeting on the Diamond League stage in a longstanding rivalry which has thrown up some classic races in recent years.
Cherotich shocked Yavi at the Diamond League Final in Brussels in 2024 before beating her again in two dramatic contests in Doha and Oslo last season
Yavi emerged on top in Eugene last year, beating Cherotich for the first time since her win in Rome in 2024, when she only narrowly missed out on the world record.
The two women face a world-class field in Xiamen, which also includes 2021 Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai and 2022 world champion Norah Jeruto.
Xiamen is the second leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League, which begins in Shanghai/Keqiao on May 16 and ends at the two-day series final in Brussels on September 4-5.
The series unites the biggest names in track and field in some of the world’s most iconic arenas, crossing four continents and 15 cities over the course of the season.
