Sometimes, it all comes down to a few hundredths of a second.
As Winfred Yavi took the last water jump in the women's 3000m steeplechase in Rome on Friday evening, it seemed like the world record was in reach for the Olympic and Diamond League champion.
Pushed all the way by Ugandan rival Peruth Chemutai, Bahrain's Yavi was on course to break Beatrice Chepkoech's six-year-old record of 8:44.32, set at the Monaco Diamond League back in 2018.
On the home straight, she pulled free of Chemutai and motored towards the line, history and immortality firmly in her sights. Yet as she crossed the line, the Wanda Diamond League's official timekeeper clocked her in at 8:44.39, just 0.07 seconds shy of the historic mark.
"I looked at the time after the race and I went ´oh, no!´ Í was really expecting that record and I was going for it," said Yavi, whose huge smile belied her words. Even without the world record, this was still a performance for the ages: a world lead, meeting record and the second-fastest time in history.
It was also Yavi's second Diamond League win of the season, and it secured her qualification for the series final in Brussels next month, where she will aim to defend the Diamond Trophy she won in 2023.
And as Yavi insisted after the race, Brussels will also give her another chance to attack the world record and write herself into the history books.
"I definitely feel I should break it and I believe it will happen," she said. "I need to work even harder and I am planning to have another go at it before the end of the season!"
