Kenyan star talks about chasing history, making a move to the marathon and her hopes of more golden moments at the World Championships in Tokyo

Faith Kipyegon is not one to stand still. For the three-time Olympic 1500m champion, there is always something to aim for. Whether that be her ongoing pursuit of becoming the first woman to break four minutes for the mile or the long-term vision that will see her moving from the track to the marathon “hopefully soon”, sources of motivation are not in short supply. 

The main fuel that helps to keep the 31-year-old at the very top level, however, is a desire to inspire – not just her now seven-year-old daughter Alyn but the next generation of women – through her deeds. 

Thanks to a lengthy list of achievements Kipyegon is fully installed as one of the best, if not the best, distance runners of all time but there is an appetite for more. On August 16, she will head to the Diamond League meeting in Silesia with one eye on breaking the long-standing 3000m world record (she is already the fastest ever over 1500m and the mile). After that test, the next item on the agenda will be the World Championships in Tokyo and the defence of her 1500m and 5000m titles, while the end of a long season will come with her appearance at the second edition of the women-only Athlos meeting in New York in October. There is much to do. 

Just the sound of that itinerary would be exhausting to most mere mortals but, on a World Athletics video call with media from across the globe, the Kenyan cut a relaxed and happy figure as she spoke about the weeks ahead. 

“It's a mindset. It's all about the mind, and also about the preparation and being patient,” she said when asked what helps to keep her standards so high. “It's all about what you want to achieve for the next generation to look up to you.”

Even by Kipyegon’s standards, this has already been an exceptional year. She invited the eyes of the world upon her as she undertook the hugely ambitious Nike-backed challenge of breaking the four-minute-mile in Paris at the end of June. Though not eligible to be an official record, her time of 4:06.42 was the fastest mile ever run by a woman. Coming up short of her target has not put her off from trying again, while her follow-up spoke volumes.

In her next race, at the Prefontaine Classic, the four-time world champion’s response was to break her own 1500m world record with a run of 3:48.68 and it was on that trip to Oregon when the wider impact of her efforts this summer started to become clear. 

“My name had been out there before, with winning medals in the Olympics and at world championships, but with Breaking 4 I will say it seems like it touched many hearts of young women,” she said. “When I was coming from Prefontaine, I got so many fans in the airport – and many were girls – telling me that I'm an inspiration to them and waiting for me to take pictures, and I was like, ‘wow’. Knowing that I've inspired them in so many ways through sport was absolutely amazing.”

With the Breaking 4 project being such an intense experience, had it helped her to learn anything new about herself?

“I would say I've learned that I'm a strong woman,” added Kipyegon. “Breaking 4 really was a tough event. The whole world was waiting for me to send a message to the girls that we have to push ourselves. We don't have to limit ourselves.”

It’s a sentiment that her friend and legendary marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge would heartily agree with. Responding to the question of whether or not she would be making another attempt at mile history, Kipyegon pointed to some posters on the wall behind her. One showed Kipchoge’s first attempt at breaking two hours for the marathon, in 2017 in Monza when he ran 2:00:25 and another showed his next effort – his 1:59:41 in Vienna two years later. 

A poster commemorating Kipyegon’s mile efforts in Paris is next in line on the wall and, next to that sits some blank space which she will hope to fill.   

“At my back you will see Eliud,” she said. “He tried [breaking two] and then he ran 1:59. I tried this year and then, after that, I broke the world record. So who is next? I will say I'm next to try again. I will not lose hope. I will keep on going to motivate young women and we will see what will happen. If I will not try this this year or next year, one day, one time, it will just happen.

“For me the goal was to be the person to run under four minutes for the mile. I didn't do what I wanted to do but it was a message sent out that it is possible one day, one time, and that if it did not come my way, it will be someone one day. One day, one time there will be a woman running under four minutes – in the next generation, or in our generation. And that's why I keep going.”

Kipyegon is aware, however, that the clock is starting to tick on her track career. She is inarguably at the peak of her powers but that doesn’t mean she isn’t thinking further ahead and towards a different kind of athletic challenge.

In a 2022 interview with AW she stated: “I don’t see myself as a great, yet. I need to achieve more towards the marathon and I’m really looking forward to following in Eliud’s footsteps. I will work my way up towards the marathon in future and I will be the greatest.”

With that in mind, then, how soon might we see her moving to the road?

“That's a tough question,” she grinned. “I don't know when I will move to the marathon or to road running, but hopefully soon. I don't know how soon it will be, but it will be soon. I'm not getting younger so I [will] have to move to the longer distances and then especially to the road. I will announce it soon, but not now. Let's finish the World Championships and see what's coming up next.”

Kipyegon, who has three 1500m and one 5000m world title to her name, will be aiming to finish the 20th edition of the championships with more fond memories. Her first appearance at the World Championships came in Moscow in 2013 and, after finishing fifth in the 1500m final at the age of 20 that year, she has finished no lower than second at every edition since. 

Despite all of the golden moments she has experienced, though, it’s coming second at the Doha championships in 2019, roughly 18 months after giving birth, that means the most to her.

“The World Championships in Doha made me who I am today,” she said. “After coming back from maternal leave, winning silver and coming home with a little bit of pain… knowing that I could win silver when not having 100 per cent of my body in the championships made me stronger to believe in myself that I could still win many medals, break records and still go far. I came out of many challenges in Doha.”

As for Silesia, there is the prospect of Kipyegon attacking the 3000m mark of 8:06.11, set by Wang Junxia in 1993. It’s a distance which the Kenyan doesn’t race often – this will be her first attempt since May 2022 – and her personal best of 8:23.55 came way back in 2014. 

“I'm just going there to lower my personal best,” she said. “I would say I'm going for that world record. That world record is tough. But we are here to try. I say dare to try. It's always good to dare to try than not to try so I'm going to Silesia to just lower my personal best and see if I will dare to try and see if the world record is possible.”