Faith Kipyegon on her quest to be the fastest 1500m runner: ‘I want to be a superstar’
In an exclusive interview, the double Olympic and world champion relives her stellar season and shares why she can break the world record: "I will fight for it," she said.
Athletics
When Faith Kipyegon crossed the finish line at the athletics' Monaco Diamond League event on 10 August, she lay down on the track exhausted and panting.
She felt thankful and relieved.
For a moment the double Olympic and world champion believed she had finally become the fastest woman in history in the 1500m, one of her lifelong goals.
But after pacing herself hard and clocking a time of 3:50.37, the Kenyan realised she missed the world record by just three-tenths of a second.
“After the finish line, I thought I got the world record. That's why I went down and slept a little bit, knowing that I got it. But later I saw the screen and, it was really disappointing,” Kipyegon shared in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com days before her final race at the Diamond League final in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday 8 September.
“In Monaco, I didn’t run with pressure, but I don’t know where I missed it. I am still going back to that video replaying it every day (trying) to see where I missed it.”
“In future, I'm going to break both the 1000m and 1500m, I am really looking forward and putting my head up.”
Disappointment keeps fueling Kipyegon
The Kenyan middle-distance star has dealt with let-downs before. But she has always used disappointments to fuel her drive to greatness. As a 16-year-old, she showed immense potential at the 2010 World Cross Country Championships, when she finished fourth in the junior race. But missing the podium stung.
A year later she announced herself to the world with her first of two junior global cross-country titles just weeks before setting a new 1500m championship record at the World Youth championships in Lille, France.
The girl who used to run barefoot in primary school was meant to become a national star.
And Kipyegon's senior career took off when she earned her first call-up to the fiercely competitive Kenyan Olympics team that was bound for the London 2012 Games.
The then 18-year-old may have slipped under the radar at her first Games as she never made it past her qualifying race. But the Olympic experience meant so much to her.
At her debut World champs in 2013 in Moscow, she stepped up and finished fifth. And since Beijing 2015, Kipyegon has stood on the podium four times, twice on the top of it.
“Discipline makes me the best runner because since I was young, I've been putting it in my head the kind of person I want to be in future,” she said explaining what has made her such a formidable 1500 runner over a decade.
“It’s the discipline, determination, focus and handwork. I have sacrificed many things.”
A historic back-to-back gold at Tokyo 2020
The defining moment for the 28-year-old was becoming the second woman in Olympic history to win two consecutive Olympic 1500m titles at Tokyo 2020.
She had impressed with silver on her return to track at the 2019 World Championships in Doha after a 21-month maternity break. But that fell short of her golden standards.
“(Tokyo) This was my first Olympics as a mum,” she recalled of her Olympic title defence.
“I'd just come back from maternity leave. I was thinking many things like, 'am I going to win or am I going to lose again this time Around?' because I lost in (Doha) in 2019.
“But I was strong, and I thought, this is the time I want to show the world that also becoming a mother, you can be stronger.”- Faith Kipyegon to Olympics.com
That monumental achievement energised her quest for glory as she added a second world title in Oregon in July.
“Winning the gold was my really big target.”
“I can give myself a nine (out of ten). I have been performing well since I joined (coach) Patrick Sang, it has been super good. And also, since I gave birth to my daughter Alyn, she has been the motivator in my life.
Kipyegon’s world record chase continues: “I will still fight for it”
The 2018 Commonwealth Games champion has become the undisputed queen of the 1500m outdoor, but there’s one thing that has eluded her so far - the world record.
She missed the 1000m world record in 2020 and 2021. Her best effort yet at the 1500m world record, a world lead and personal best, was at the 2022 Diamond League in Monaco, but she lagged 11 hundredths behind Genzebe Dibaba’s pace in the final 300m.
“That motivates me to work harder. In future, I'm going to break both the 1000m and 1500m. I will not lose hope and I will still fight for it.”
“The 1500m world record is beatable,” she continued, talking of the Ethiopian’s 3:50.07-mark from the 2017 Monaco Diamond League.
“The 1500m ladies will be a competitive race as we have been running super quick… we are now in 3:50. In future the next generation will follow our footsteps and I think 1500m will be lowered to 3:48, (they) will run even quicker.”
“I want to show them the way (to get there). I want when I get older, I want to hear some next generation talking about Faith. Saying, ‘I want to be super quick, like Faith,’” said the Kaptagat-based athlete where he trains with another double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, a huge inspiration in the world of marathon running and beyond.
“I want to see my career at the next level, in Eliud Kipchoge’s level in marathons. Training with him is something special, I am happy to train and stay in camp with him from Monday to Saturday. He really motivates us to follow in his footsteps.”
Kipyegon continues to work on her great dream, becoming the most decorated 1500m female star, as she eyes an unprecedented third world title in Budapest in 2023, and a third straight Olympic gold at Paris 2024. She is also keen on leaving a lasting legacy on and off track.
“I want to leave a legacy behind. I want to be a superstar. I still want to do something great.”
The mother of one recently adopted the logo ‘Mother Stronger’, to inspire mums and future female athletes.
“This is a logo of motherhood,” she said tapping on a blue and red logo on her jacket.
“It's something special for me. This is something we decided with my manager and company that when I'm talking, this can be something to motivate the upcoming generation and all mothers around the world, it’s Mother Stronger…
If you have to leave your baby at home, to stay in (training) camp for one week (like me) it’s not easy, but you have to always (remember) a mother is stronger.”