PARIS (Reuters) - Ugandan Peruth Chemutai got the defence of her Olympic 3,000 metres steeplechase title off on the right track in Paris on Sunday by cruising through the opening heat.
Kenyan world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech handily won her heat while 2023 world champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain also advanced to the final.
There were few surprises when Sunday's programme kicked off at the Stade de France.
Chemutai went to the front of the pack almost immediately and never let up in a confident performance, crossing the finish in a comfortable 9 minutes, 10.51 seconds ahead of Kenya's Faith Cherotich, the 2023 world bronze medallist.
Yavi took a different tactic in the second heat, biding her time at the back of the pack before making her move around the halfway mark and holding on down the final straight to finish in 9:15.11 ahead of Ethiopian Sembo Almayew.
With Chepkoech (9:13.56) all by herself with two laps to go in the final heat, the battle for second saw the Parisian crowd erupt into cheers as France's Alice Finot got the better of German Lea Meyer in the final few metres.
The final is scheduled for Tuesday.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Paris; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
