Faith Kipyegon says a woman will run a sub-four minute mile
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Faith Kipyegon wins the women's 1,500m in a world record 3:48.68 during the 50th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – Faith Kipyegon said she believes a woman will break the four-minute barrier for the mile “in this generation or the next”, and the challenge is what keeps her training.
The Kenyan came up short in her specially arranged attempt in June 2025 to become the first woman to smash through the four-minute barrier, clocking 4min 6.42sec in Paris.
“My goal was to be the first woman to run under four minutes in the mile. I would say I didn’t do what I wanted to do, but it sent a message that it is possible one day,” she said in a roundtable interview released on Aug 7, ahead of the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
“If it does not come my way, it will be someone one day,” the 31-year-old added.
Kipyegon, a three-time Olympic gold medallist in the 1,500m, said that history-making goal gets her out of bed in the morning.
“I believe there will be a woman running under four minutes in the next generation or in our generation, and that’s why I keep going, keep training,” she said.
“I have achieved a lot, all the medals, the Olympics and World Championships, but I still have a drive, I still want to show that women are capable of doing what we have to do in this world, that we have got this, and we need to do it.”
The indefatigable Kipyegon bounced back within days of her mile attempt disappointment, setting a world 1,500m record of 3:48.68 at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Eugene.
Tokyo will be the first championships where World Athletics will administer a new gender test and the Kenyan said she welcomed its introduction.
“It is all about women, and I am OK about it,” she said. “This is a new thing, and we’re all going to face it. I am looking forward to it.”
She also admitted she was already eyeing a move up to the marathon.
“It will be soon,” she said. “I am not getting young any more. I will announce soon, but not now.”
In other news, Olympic 5,000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen is set to miss the August Diamond League meetings in Poland and Belgium as he recovers from injury, his spokesperson said.
The 24-year-old Norwegian had been scheduled to run the 1,500 metres in Brussels on Aug 22 and was also listed for the Silesia meeting in Poland on Aug 16, having been announced for the event as early as December 2024.
Ingebrigtsen has struggled with an Achilles injury over the last few months and had to drop out of the Ostrava Golden Spike and Oslo Bislett Games in June.
“He is still working on getting rid of the injury he has sustained to an Achilles. He would very much have liked to be able to participate,” Ingebrigtsen’s spokesperson Espen Skoland told Norwegian TV2.
Ingebrigtsen has not competed since claiming double gold in the 1,500m and 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships in March. He has spent recent weeks training in St. Moritz, where his camp say he is making steady progress.
No revised timeline has been given for a return to competition, but he has said his goal is to compete at the World Championships in Tokyo. AFP, REUTERS
