Faith Kipyegon of Kenya has been almost unbeatable in the 1500 meters for the past two years and has won two gold medals in the event at the Olympics. She now has the world record, which was the one thing that had been missing until now.
Kipyegon, who is 29 years old, ran 3:49.11 at the Diamond League meet in Florence, Italy, on June 2. The previous record was set by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2015 with a time of 3:50:07. She beat that time by almost a second.
Two experts in the 800-meter race from the United States helped Kipyegon win her memorable race. Brooke Feldmeier was in the lead for the first 400 meters, which took her 62.37 seconds. Sage Hurta-Klecker took over during the second lap, which took her 61.63 seconds, for a total of 2:04.00 for the first 800 meters. Then, the two Americans stood by the track and watched the rest of the race.
Laura Muir of Great Britain, who won the silver medal at the 2021 Olympics, and Jessica Hull of Australia were behind Kipyegon. But by 1200 meters, which Kipyegon ran in 3:05.20 (after a lap that took 61.28 seconds), she was almost 2.5 seconds ahead of Muir.
In 58.81 seconds, Kipyegon ran the last 400 meters of the race. As she ran down the backstretch, the marking lights, which were set to the world record speed on the inside rail of the track, fell behind her. She made a small grimace in the last 100 meters, but she didn’t slow down much after she crossed the finish line. As she looked at the clock and realized what she had done, she pointed at it, and then, happy and excited, she fell to the track.
Muir came in second with a time of 3:57.09, almost 8 seconds after Kipeygon. Hull came in third with a time of 3:57.29, which was an Australian best.
While Kipyegon did a winning lap, her rivals waited for her to celebrate on the track. Ireland’s Ciara Mageean, who came in fourth with a time of 4:00.95, gave her a bear hug. “I am so happy for Faith,” said Muir after the race.
Last August, Kipyegon ran 3:50.37 at the Diamond League meet in Monaco, which was very close to the world record. She now has two of the fastest three times ever.
