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India’s Lalita Babar finished in 8th position in the final of the 3000m steeplechase at the IAAf World Championships in Beijing on Wednesday. The 26-year-old finished the race with a timing of 9:29.64 and was leading the race at the 2 minute and the 1000m and 2000m mark.
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But the rest of the pack began to increase their pace during the final 1000m of the race and she eventually fell back on the pecking order to complete the race in 8th position. Hyvin Jepkemoi of Kenya clinched the gold with a time of 9:19.11, Habiba Ghribi finished second with a time of 9:19.24 while Gesa Krause of Germany finished third, with just 100th of a second separating her and Ghribi at 9:19.25.
The Indian set the national record during the qualification by finishing with a timing of 9:27.86 and thereby surpassed her own record of 9:34.13, which she had set at the Asian Athletics Championships.
That timing helped her clinch the gold in the event and in turn helped her qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics next year. Babar became the first Indian to qualify into the finals of a track event.
