Nine Days After Her 'Breaking 4' Attempt In The Mile, Kipyegon Returns To Familiar Ground At Hayward Field To Lower The 1,500 Record To 3:48.68

By Lori Shontz for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photo

This time, there was no catchy marketing campaign. No scientifically organized phalanx of male pacers. No pre-race minutiae about the cutting-edge technology designed to give Faith Kipyegon every possible edge, from her shoes to her speedsuit to her bra.

This was just Kipyegon doing what she’s done the past decade – lining up against the world’s best female middle-distance runners and dominating them.

On Saturday, in the final event of the 50th edition of the Prefontaine Classic, Kipyegon broke the world record in the 1,500 meters for the third consecutive summer. Her time of 3:48.68 made her the first woman to break 3:49.

“This was really special,” Kipyegon said. “I said in Paris that I was still capable of running under 3:49, and I surprised myself today doing that.”

This world record came just nine days after she had made history by attempting an audacious goal – breaking a 4-minute mile in a made-for-a-documentary event at Charélty Stadium in Paris. Her time of 4:06.42, while it didn’t meet the conditions for an official world record, was more than a second faster than her own world record, 4:07.64, which is in turn nearly five seconds faster than any woman had ever run.

So while she may have surprised herself, Kipyegon didn’t really surprise anyone else at Hayward Field.

Meet organizers moved the women’s 1,500 to the last event of the meet, a slot normally reserved for the prestigious Bowerman Mile. The day before the meet, Kipyegon said the schedule change gave her extra motivation and called it “being honored in a really high way.”

The Hayward Field crowd, which had witnessed Beatrice Chebet’s 5,000-meter world record about 80 minutes earlier, was primed for something special. The clapping began as the first women jogged onto the track, and Nikki Hiltz said that as the crowd clapped, they looked around and noticed that the rest of the 1,500-meter field was clapping, too.

“For her and her accolades,” Hiltz said. “I think it just speaks to how good of a person she is – how she lifts all of us up. I’m the biggest Faith Kipyegon fan.”

The crowd’s clapping turned into a roar as Kipyegon made her way to the starting line.

“Oh my gosh, I almost cried,” Kipyegon said. “Because everyone was waiting for me. I was the last one on the track, the last event of the day, and it felt so amazing, everybody wanting for you to attempt the world record. I felt at home, you know.”

Kipyegon tucked in behind pacer Sage Hurta-Klecker, who was charged with bringing the field through 800 in 2:03.2 and 1,100 in 2:49.1. Jessica Hull tucked in behind Kipyegon.

Hurta-Klecker hit her marks, and then Kipyegon and Hull took off. Kipyegon made her move with about 300 to go, powering down the backstretch looking smooth and strong.

“As she pulled away from me down the backstretch, I felt like it was windy,” Hull said. “And she was running away. She ran 3:48 today. She probably runs 3:47 if she gets in a stadium that’s protected the whole way around. She’s amazing.”

Kipyegon ran her final 400 in 59.02, pumped her fists as she crossed the line and pointed to the clock, which showed her world record. As usual, many of her competitors

“I’m so happy with that,” she said. “I got back to my rhythm. After running a race like one person on the track with 11 men, today was really special to race with my other competitors, Jessica Hull and those strong women.”

The bond between Kipyegon and her competitors has been evident since she broke the 1,500 world record for the first time, at the Florence Diamond League meet in June 2023.

Her 3:49.11 broke a world record that had stood for eight years, Genzebe Dibaba’s 3:50.07 – and she finished seven seconds ahead of runner-up Laura Muir. Dibaba’s 2015 world record broke Yunxia Qu’s 3:50.46 from September 1993. That record stood for 22 years.

The entire field commemorated the moment; everyone posed for the picture with the world record time.

The next summer, at the Paris Diamond League, Kipyegon ran 3:49.04, and this time, the field was better prepared. Runner-up Hull ran with her as long as possible and cut five seconds of her PR. Muir finished third and broke the British record. Twelve of the 13 racers broke 4 minutes.

“She’s just kind of rewired my mindset about how fast we can go,” Hull said at a media event the day before the race, sitting next to Kipyegon.

She then went on to discuss Kipyegon as a person, saying that when she saw her at the hotel after that race, Kipyegon congratulated her on the PR and Australian record before Hull could congratulate her. Turning to Kipyegon at the press conference, Hull said, “And it was so miniscule compared to what you did.”

And then Georgia Hunter Bell chimed in with a similar story.

“Faith’s not very in your face about being the best,” said Grant Fisher, one of the pacers for Kipyegon’s Breaking4 event. “She is the best, but she doesn’t seem to want to remind you of that all the time.”

Kipyegon’s record in the 1,500 does speak for itself: three Olympic gold medals, three world championship medals and now three consecutive summers lowering the world record. She didn’t rule out trying again to break 4 minutes in the mile, and she said she’s learned a lot from the attempt.

“I learned that everything is possible in life,” she said. “You don’t have to limit yourself.  When you want to try something, just go for it and believe in yourself.”