United States: Kenya’s three-time reigning Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon set a new world record in the 1,500m with a time of 3 minutes 48.68 seconds on Saturday at the Diamond League event in Eugene, Oregon, surpassing her previous mark and securing her place in athletics history.
Kipyegon broke her own record of 3:49.04, set at the Diamond League meeting in Paris on July 7, 2024, by finishing in an even faster time.
The Kenyan athlete was competing in her first 1,500m race of the season, after falling short in her attempt to become the first woman to break four minutes in the mile during a special event in Paris on June 26.
She mentioned that her practice for that challenge boosted her performance in her signature event.
“I think the changes were that I was preparing myself for something special, which was to run under four minutes in a mile, and I think I pushed myself, getting better and better toward the 1,500, so I knew it was possible to still run under 3:49,”
She said, the “Breaking 4” mile attempt, with the aid of a wealth of technical support including a custom-made suit and new Victory Elite FK shoes, was something of an outlier, but Kipyegon said this race puts her on course for the World Championships at Tokyo in September.
“This is the road to Tokyo, and I would say I am in the right direction,” said the 31-year-old Kenyan, who has yet to decide if she will attempt the 1,500m/5,000m double in Toky
Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji finished second in 3:51.44, overhauling Australia’s Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull, who had stuck to Kipyegon until the final lap but settled for third in 3:52.67.
“For someone to show up and just keep doing it over and over again, she’s phenomenal,” Hull said of Kipyegon. “She was aware that I was going to be there this time, so she put her foot down and made it really hard for that last 500 meters.”
