Chemos plans assault on 3000m Steeplechase World record in Brussels – Samsung Diamond League

Brussels, Belgium - Milcah Chemos Cheywa announced that she is preparing to attack the 3000m Steeplechase World Record at the Belgacom Memorial Van Damme on 16 September, the final stop on the 2011 Samsung Diamond League series.

The 25-year-old Kenyan has won 12 out of 13 races in the 3000m Steeplechase since June 2010. She set her personal best on the distance with her third place finish at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin clocking 9:08.57.

Chemos has already secured the 2011 Diamond Race in the event so long as she finishes in the final in Brussels. Chemos won all the Samsung Diamond Races so far this year, starting in Doha and then continuing her winning streak in Rome, New York, Lausanne and London.

“There is no pressure whatsoever for me in the Samsung Diamond League Final in Brussels,” said Chemos, one of the favourites for gold at the World Championships which begin on 27 August in Daegu, Korea.

“Therefore I hope to fulfill my great dream and that is to beat the 3000m Steeplechase World Record by Gulnara Samitova.”

Samitova set the current mark of 8:58.81 at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 when she became the event’s first Olympic champion. Her run remains the only performance under nine minutes.

Ivo Hendrix (organisers) for the IAAF