Multiple Olympics and world champion Faith Kipyegon has given the biggest indication yet that she could produce the best performance of her career when she competes at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris from July 26 to August 11.
Two-time Olympics 1,500 metres champion Kipyegon, who is also the world champion over 5,000m, has said that breaking her own world record over 1,500m at the Paris Diamond League on July 7 is an indication of bigger things to come from her at the Olympics. She will compete in two races - women’s 1,500m and 5,000m.
“I will run the 5,000 metres race first, and then head to the 1,500m which is my favourite. I look forward to winning again. What I did last weekend (on July 7) in Paris shows that I’m ready for the Olympics. I expect bigger things, and I pray that I go there injury-free,” Kipyegon told Nation Sport on the sidelines of a financial literacy forum in Eldoret on Friday.
In Paris, Kipyegon will be aiming to become the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic titles over 1,500m, having already triumphed over the distance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in a time of four minutes, 08.92 seconds, and at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (3:53.11).
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Kipyegon became the first woman to win 1,500m and 5,000m races at a single championship. She competed in the 5,000m for the first time in Budapest.
In Paris, Kipyegon will compete in two races - the women’s 1,500m, and the 5,000m. The multiple Olympics and world champion, who has broken four world records, is one of the big names to watch in Paris.
On July 7, Kipyegon obliterated her previous record set on June 2 last year by 0.07 seconds On July 7 when she won her race in Paris Diamond League in a blistering three minutes and 49.04 seconds in the eighth leg of the Diamond League.
Kipyegon had claimed the 1,500m world record for the first time on June 2, last year in Florence, Italy, winning in 3:49.11 to erase the previous record of 3:50.07 set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba on July 17, 2015.
On June 9 last year, she ran 14:05.20 to break the women's 5,000m world record of 14:06.62, which had been set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in Valencia on October 7, 2020.
On July 21 last year, the 30-year-old mother of one clocked 4:07.64 at Monaco Diamond League to obliterate the previous One Mile record of 4:12.33 which had been set by Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan at the same venue in 2019.
The soft-spoken athlete, who has fully recovered from a muscle injury, heads to Paris in good form.
“My training has so far gone according to plan. I have been fine-tuning a few areas before the big assignment in Paris. With teamwork, it should be a good outing for Team Kenya at the Olympics,” she added.
In Paris, Kipyegon will compete alongside her compatriots Nelly Jepchirchir and US-based Susan Ejore in 1,500m race. In the 5,000m race, Kipyegon will team up with her fellow countrywomen Beatrice Chebet, and Margaret Chelimo.
She is alive to the challenges that the 1,500m race presents.
“The 1,500m race, which is my favourite, is very competitive. One has to make a good calculation to make the final. My prayer is that we (Kenyan athletes in the race) all make the final, and then fight it out from there. We have a strong team and I believe we shall do well and make our country proud,” the Kaptagat-based athlete said. Her 5,000m record has since been broken by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay who clocked 14:00.21 last year.
