In Paris
Faith Kipyegon had an easy day off at her hotel on Rue Cambone in upmarket Paris on Friday, relaxing with team members and recovering from Thursday’s commendable attempt at beating the four-minute barrier in the mile.
Today, she will be on a private Gulfstream jet on her way to Portland, Oregon, home of American sportswear giants Nike who choreographed Thursday night’s “Breaking4” run at the Stade Sebastian Charlety, together with a team from the triple Olympic champion’s Global Sports Communications management stable led by directors Valentijn Trouw and Marleen Vink Rennings.
Nike spared no resources in putting together Thursday’s event where drinks flowed freely at the VIP zones and Media Centre, adding to the excitement of the night.
‘Banh Mi Roule Aux Champignons’ (mushroom bread rolls), ‘Teriyaki Slider’, ‘chicken croquette’, ‘black tarlet’ and ‘chocolate fondant’ were some of the unique attractions on the Media Centre menu where journalists drowned bottomless Tete Blanche and Tete Rose wines and assorted beers by the bottle in anticipation of a Roger Bannister moment.
In 1954, Bannister became the first man to dip under four minutes in the mile and on Thursday, Kipyegon was seeking to become the first woman to beat the mythical barrier.
But she fell short, running 4:06.42, some 1.22 seconds faster than her legal mile world record of 4:07.64 run in Monaco two years ago.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon acknowledges applauses from spectators after her attempt to run the women’s mile in under four minutes at the Stade Sebastian Charlety Stadium in Paris on June 26, 2025.
Photo credit: Pool
And as the merrymaking tore into the late Parisian night and guests staggered to their hotel rooms, the 31-year-old Kipyegon was counting her wins from the race, looking at her glass as half full after running splits of 1:00.20, 2:00.75, 3:01.84 for the 4:06.42 finish.
Apart from dipping inside the Monaco world record, Kipyegon’s 1,000m split of 2:30.68 was also close to her personal best and national record 2:29.15.
She confessed that, in hindsight, she should have started slower and finished faster as there was barely anything left in the tank in the final lap.
“That last 200 metres was the toughest in my life,” she reacted, noting that despite failing to break four, she remains confident the mythical barrier will be broken by a woman. Soon.
“I feel good that I tried. That’s why I came, to be the first woman under four minutes. So, yeah, I know one day, one time, a woman will run under four. I will not lose hope. I will still go for it and if there’s not something like this, a special one, I think in a normal Diamond League, or anything, I will still go for it and I hope I will get it one day.
She thanked the vocal fans for showing their support: “Thank you for coming and cheering me. This was special, I was not expecting this many people. I’ve proven to the world that anything is possible.”
Besides making available a private jet to fly Kipyegon around and delivering a comprehensive support team, Nike also assembled a stellar cast of male and female pacemakers, led by USA’s double Olympic bronze medallist and 5,000m indoor world record holder Grant Fisher, to push her under the four-minute mark.
The others were Craig Engels (USA), Niels Laros (Netherlands), Stewart McSweyn (Australia), Jemma Reekie (Great Britain), Georgia Hunter Bell (Great Britain), Halima Nakaayi (Uganda) and Cooper Teare (USA).
The rest were Elliot Giles (Great Britain), Stefan Nillessen (Netherlands), Cathal Doyle (Ireland) and the Kenyan trio of Wyclife Kinyamal, Boaz Kiprugut and Bernard Soi.
Their brief was to mitigate against the wind and aerodynamic drag by creating a shield around her, thus formulating a low-pressure air pocket around the superstar.
Kipyegon also wore a custom Fly Suit, a FlyWeb Bra, and prototype Victory Elite spikes, all created in the Nike labs specially for Thursday’s run.
The apparel and shoes, alongside the pace-making arrangements, are all outside World Athletics’ rules for record compliance which means her fastest mile time clocked here on Thursday will not be ratified as an official record.
Kipyegon’s undisclosed pay
The bodysuits are, essentially, speed suits aimed at reducing drag and improving aerodynamic efficiency.
Kipyegon’s apparel was coupled with a headband and arm sleeves to minimize any aerodynamic inefficiencies that the human hair and skin may produce.
She could compete in the 1,500m at next weekend’s Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting, chasing her seventh win at Hayward Field.
On Thursday, the Stade Sebastian Charlety was themed in Kipyegon’s favourite colour – purple – with gates opening at 5pm and over 200 Kenyans in attendance, including Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi, Kenya’s Ambassador to Paris Betty Cherwon and Athletics Kenya official Barnaba Korir who is also the Meet Director of the Kip Keino Classic.
President William Ruto also called in to wish Kipyegon luck ahead of the race held under near perfect weather conditions somewhat blotted by rather strong wind.
Kipyegon’s husband and 2012 Olympic 800m bronze medallist, Timothy Kitum, was at the finish line waiting for Kipyegon with marathon G.O.A.T. Eliud Kipchoge holding one end of the finish tape.
For the attempt, Kipyegon will received an undisclosed pay with tennis star Serena Williams’ husband, internet entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, having put $100,000 on the table for a sub-4 run.
Kipyegon is also expected to benefit from sales of Nike’s recently-released Faith Kipyegon collection, shoes and apparel inspired by the Kenyan star. The collection includes the ‘Faith Kipyegon Alphafly3’ that opened with a retail price of $295 (Sh38,128) last week.
“I will never forget this moment and watching Faith chase her dreams. This is why Nike exists: to serve athletes like Faith. History was made today, with Faith shattering her world record time,” NIKE, Inc. President and CEO, Elliott Hill, remarked after the race.
“Watching her historic performance and pursuit to redefine what’s possible will inspire generations of athletes to dream bigger. I’m proud of the expertise, innovation, design, creativity and overall support that our teams provided to make the impossible possible.”
