Kenyan-born Bahrain superstar Winfred Yavi is set to smile all the way to the bank after completing a historic golden hat-trick at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsYavi capped her remarkable week on the track by winning the women’s 5,000m on Tuesday, becoming the first athlete to win the 5,000m, 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase at the same edition of the Asian Games.##NAJAVA_MECA_9995888##The reigning Olympic champion clocked 15:10.18 to add a third gold medal to the 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase titles she had already secured.And with Bahrain’s previous Asian Games reward structure offering $5,000 (approximately KSh648,350) for every gold medal, Yavi is in line to pocket about KSh1.95 million from the three titles alone, before factoring in any additional rewards or incentives from Bahrain.Yavi had to dig deep for her latest gold after being pushed all the way by Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka in a thrilling finish.The pair were locked in a two-runner battle with one lap remaining before Yavi produced her trademark finishing kick to pull away and cross the line clear in 15:10.18.Tanaka settled for silver in 15:11.65, just 1.47 seconds behind Yavi, while India’s Parul Chaudhary completed the podium after clocking 15:14.61.The victory came less than 24 hours after Yavi successfully defended her 3,000m steeplechase title, meaning she had competed in three finals in less than a week.Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi returns to Rome Diamond League after two yearsDespite the demanding schedule and wet track conditions, the 26-year-old maintained her composure to complete a treble that had never been achieved before in the women's events.The 5,000m victory also took Yavi’s Asian Games gold medal tally to six in her career and helped Bahrain strengthen its position on the medal table.Bahrain had nine gold medals and 14 medals overall at the time, putting the Gulf nation seventh behind China, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Thailand, while remaining the highest-ranked Arab country.Yavi was not the only Bahrain athlete in action on the final day of athletics.Nelly Korir advanced to the women’s 800m final after finishing second in her preliminary heat in 2:02.92. She secured an automatic qualification spot for the medal race.Open Lanes Grand Finale brings university athletics to NyayoBahrain also reached the final of the mixed 4x100m relay through Ali Haji, Raihanah Garoubah, Abdulraof Rashed, and Salwa Eid Naser.The quartet qualified as one of the ‘lucky losers’ after finishing fifth in the first heat in 42.18 seconds, with Naser already having won two gold medals at the Games.The Kenyan-born star has now conquered three of the most demanding distance events at a single Asian Games, with her three gold medals also potentially translating into a multimillion-shilling reward from Bahrain.Based on the previous Asian Games reward structure, silver medallists received $3,000 (about KSh389,000), while bronze medallists earned $2,000 (about KSh259,000).
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