Faith KIPYEGON

Kenya

Athletics

Olympic Medals

Games Participations4

First Olympic GamesLondon 2012

Year of Birth1994

Social Media

Biography

Faith Kipyegon has gone from running her first races barefoot to reaching the summit of the track and field world, a history maker in women's middle-distance running.

Faith Kipyegon: Early life and rise to track stardom

It's been a stellar rise for the racer who used to run barefoot in school.

It wasn't until she turned 15 that the girl from a family of athletes – her father was a 400m and 800m runner, and her sister a 10km and half-marathon specialist – began training to make the sport her career.

She won the World Cross Country junior race in 2011 and 2013 in Bydgoszcz. She also claimed titles at the 2011 World U18 and 2012 World U20 Championships in the 1,500m.

Kipyegon made her senior debut at the World Championships in Moscow in 2013, finishing fifth. Since then, she has been on the world podium four times, winning twice as the world champion (in 2017 and 2022). She also won a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics, where she showcased her tactical acumen to sprint past the leaders in the final lap.

A maternity break followed in 2018 after Kipyegon gave birth to her daughter Alyn before her return at Tokyo 2020 in 2021**, where she defended her Olympic title** by setting a new Games record of 3:53.11, breaking a mark that had stood for 33 years.

Faith Kipyegon: Historic 2023 and trio of world records

The Kenyan had an incredible season in 2023. She achieved a remarkable feat by breaking three world track records in three events in under 50 days.

The 29-year-old broke the women's 1,500m world record at the Diamond League meeting in Florence, Italy, at 3:49.11. Less than a week later, the Kenyan shattered the 5,000m world record at the Diamond League event in Paris, France, with a time of 14:05.20 (the record has since been broken by another Ethiopian, Gudaf Tsegay, with a time of 14:00.21)

To complete her record-breaking streak, she annihilated the one-mile world record with a time of 4:07.64 at the Diamond League meet in Monaco.

Then, later in the season, at the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, Kipyegon created more history by triumphing in 1,500m and 5,000m events, becoming the first woman ever to win a double over these distances at the global spectacle. World Athletics recognised her fantastic season, crowning her as the World Athlete of the Year for 2023.

Faith Kipyegon: Paris world record and Olympic triple crown in 2024

Even before the Paris 2024 Games, Kipyegon sent the city abuzz with an electrifying run in the Paris Diamond League meet a few weeks before the Olympics got underway.

Kipyegon broke her own women's 1500m world record by shaving off seven hundredths of a second from her previous best in a time of 3:49.04.

That performance was just the curtain raiser before the Kenyan toook centre stage once again at Paris 2024.

In the women's 5000m, Kipyegon was involved in a dramatic ending to the race. After initially finishing in silver medal position behind her team mate Beatrice Chebet, Kipyegon was disqualified after an incident involving Gudaf Tsegay.

However, Kipyegon was reinstated in second place after a successful appeal against obstruction during her tussle with Tsegay.

The women's 1500m final at Paris 2024 proved to be a much more serene affair for Kipyegon.

After pulling away on the final lap, Kipyegon surged to an historic victory in a time of 3:51.29 - smashing the Olympic record she had set at Tokyo 2020 by nearly two seconds.

It cemented Kipyegon's place as one of the all-time greats of athletics: no other woman has won three successive Olympic gold medals in a single track discipline.