Faith Cherotich competes at a previous race/ FILEWorld 3,000m steeplechase champion Faith Cherotich will hope to defend her Diamond League final title at the season-ending Brussels leg on Friday night.
The Kenyan water-and-barrier queen tops the standings with 36 points, underlining her consistency across the circuit.
Tunisia's Marwa Bouzayani is second on 31 points, while Uganda's Peruth Chemutai occupies third with 26. Olympic champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain is fourth on 22 points, with 2025 National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) steeplechase champion Doris Lemngole rounding out the top five on 17.
Cherotich returns to the Diamond League final as the defending champion after producing a masterclass in Zurich last year, where she surged to her maiden finals trophy in 8:57.24.
She unleashed a strong finishing kick to beat Kazakhstan's Norah Jeruto (9:10.87) and Bouzayani (9:12.03), announcing herself as the new force in the event.
That breakthrough triumph proved to be the springboard for an even greater milestone, as Cherotich went on to capture the world title in Tokyo in 8:51.59.
The 22-year-old heads into Brussels in red-hot form after a commanding victory Diamond League.
Cherotich orchestrated a memorable Kenyan 1-2 finish at last weekend's Zurich leg, powering home in 8:55.82. Lemngole was second with a personal best of 8:55.94 as Chemutai completed the podium in 8:58.28.
The world champion was delighted to see Kenya dominate the podium.
“I am happy and I am feeling good. We are happy that Kenya came first and second, we prepared well for this race,” Cherotich said after the race.
For the youngster, taking control of the race from the front was all part of the plan.
“The pace was okay and it was also my plan to get in front and pace after the pacemaker got out,” she added. “The season has been good for me. My next goal is to finish the season well in Brussels.”
Her Zurich success came as the perfect response after suffering a defeat to Yavi at the Lausanne leg on August 21.
Cherotich clocked 9:01.90 to finish second behind Yavi's 9:00.04 meeting record, while Bouzayani claimed third in 9:05.55.
The Kenyan opened her season on May 16 in Shanghai with a runner-up finish, clocking 8:51.48, just one hundredth of a second behind Chemutai's 8:51.47.
A week later in Xiamen, Cherotich settled for third in 8:52.53, behind Chemutai (8:51.06) and Yavi (8:51.54).
Her long-awaited breakthrough arrived on July 4 at the Prefontaine Classic, where she out-kicked Yavi and Bouzayani to claim her maiden Diamond League victory in 8:51.74. Yavi finished second in 8:52.84, with Bouzayani third in 8:54.32.
Before the Lausanne setback, Cherotich delivered one of the defining performances of her season by capturing the Commonwealth Games title on July 29.
She stormed to a Games record 9:01.76, slicing of 9:15.68 set by compatriot Jackline Chepkoech at the 2022 Birmingham Games.
England's Elise Thorner claimed silver in 9:05.45, while Chemutai completed the podium with bronze in 9:09.96.
