NAIROBI, Kenya — Faith Kipyegon, Kenya’s unstoppable middle-distance queen, came heartbreakingly close to rewriting the record books Thursday night in Paris — but history will have to wait.
Racing under the lights at the Stade Sébastien Charléty, Kipyegon was chasing one of the sport’s most mythic milestones: a sub-four-minute mile by a woman.
She finished in 4:06.42 — fast enough to beat her own world record by nearly two seconds, but still more than six seconds short of breaking that elusive barrier.
And yet, the moment was electric.
The crowd stood, roared, and clapped not for a broken record, but for an athlete willing to test the edge of human possibility. Because if anyone could flirt with the impossible, it’s Faith Kipyegon — reigning Olympic champion, multiple world record holder, and, let’s face it, a living legend.
“I know one day, one time, a woman will run under four minutes,” she told reporters, moments after the race. “Everything is possible.”
The event, aptly dubbed Breaking4, was Nike’s high-stakes answer to the Ineos 1:59 Challenge that helped Eliud Kipchoge — another Kenyan great — crack the two-hour marathon mark in 2019.
Kipyegon’s version had all the drama and innovation: a wind-cutting Nike Fly Suit, custom spikes, and an elite cast of 12 international pacemakers running in formation like human jetstreams.
She wasn’t alone on that track. The pacing dream team included names like Niels Laros (Netherlands), Stewart McSweyn (Australia), Craig Engels and Grant Fisher (USA), and Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi.
Wycliffe Kinyamal, her Kenyan teammate, was also part of the orchestrated push. They ran in a tight V-shaped pack — five out front, others trailing behind — shielding Kipyegon from the breeze like a Formula One pit crew made of lungs and legs.
As the race hit the halfway mark, the female pacers peeled off, handing the baton (figuratively) to their male counterparts, who surged forward with her. The goal? Shatter a psychological and physical ceiling no woman has ever broken.
Still, it was a proud night. And Kipyegon knew it.
“We showed today that belief makes everything possible,” she said. “If not me, someone will do it.”
She made sure to thank the crowd and pacers. “I didn’t expect so many people to come out. The support was overwhelming. And the pacers did an amazing job.”
The choice of Paris was no accident. It’s where Kipyegon shattered the 1,500m world record last year, clocking 3:49.04. And it’s the city where she will attempt to win her third straight Olympic 1,500m gold next month — a feat no woman has achieved.
Let’s not forget, this is the same runner who broke the 5,000m world record with a jaw-dropping 14:05.20 in 2023 — a mark later eclipsed by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay. And in her last Olympic appearance, Kipyegon won gold in a record-breaking 3:51.29.
So, no, she didn’t break the four-minute barrier. But she’s still rewriting the rules. One stride at a time.
And with Paris 2024 just weeks away, you get the feeling that the best chapter in the Faith Kipyegon story might still be unwritten.
