Faith Kipyegon isn’t easing up after her attempt at breaking the four-minute mile.
Just a day after unofficially breaking her own mile world record, running 4:06.42 at Nike’s Breaking4 event in Paris, the Kenyan star has announced she’ll target her own 1,500m world record at next weekend’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.
The back-to-back efforts, a sub-4 mile attempt on Thursday, then a potential record run just nine days later, would be a bold stretch for any athlete. For Kipyegon, it’s just the latest example of her willingness to test the limits of middle-distance running.
On Thursday night, under some pretty warm and humid conditions at Stade Charléty, Kipyegon ran 4:06.42, faster than her own official world record of 4:07.64.
But because the Nike-sponsored Breaking4 event used male pacemakers and wasn’t part of an open competition, among other things, the performance won’t count for record purposes.
She faded in the final 400 meters after hitting 800m in 2:00.75, nearly on pace for history, but never quite closed the gap.
“I will say I gave it all,” she said following the attempt, “I think that next time I will still keep giving it all and see where I will make it, but I hope, one day, one time, it will be there.“
Now she’s pivoting quickly.
Last month, Kipyegon confirmed she’d run the women’s 1,500m at the Pre Classic on July 5, where she’ll line up on a track that’s been kind to her. She’s won six times at Hayward Field, including at last year’s Diamond League Final, and now, she’ll be racing with the goal of breaking her own world record of 3:49.04, set last summer in Paris.
Unlike Breaking4, she won’t be alone in Eugene.
The field also includes Australia’s Jessica Hull, who won silver in the 1,500m at the 2024 Paris Olympics and set the world record over 2000m, and Britain’s Georgia Bell, who took bronze in Paris and grabbed another medal at this year’s World Indoor Championships.
It’s a stacked lineup, but Kipyegon remains the clear favorite.
The 31-year-old already owns world records in the 1,500m and mile, and she’s a three-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion. In short: she’s the standard.
If she manages to lower her 1500m time in Eugene, it could cap one of the most ambitious seasons ever by a middle-distance runner.
