Faith Kipyegon: Why 2023 could be an epic season for Kenya's athletics star
The Kenyan Olympic champion crushed the 1500m and 5000m world records in the space of a week, but that is just the beginning as she eyes an unprecedented third world 1500m title.
Athletics
For double Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon there’s never a lack of motivation in her athletics career.
It used to be the world titles – the middle-distance star has won seven individual gold medals across several championships.
Then she dreamt of the Olympics – she competed in three, winning two Olympic titles.
Like many athletes, she feared that combining motherhood and running could be the end of her competitive racing, but she made the best of both worlds.
Since taking a break in 2018, the 29-year-old Kenyan has won an Olympic gold and two medals at the World Championships.
Her goals for 2023 are clear: she wants to be the most decorated 1500m female star. That means winning a record third world title this summer in Budapest.
And she also wanted to become the fastest woman in her speciality race, running faster than the 3:50.07 world record mark set by Genzebe Dibaba in 2015.
Mission accomplished as she crushed the mark on Friday (2 June) at the Golden Gala in Florence running the final lap in 58.81 to clock 3:49.11.
She followed it eactly a week later by breaking the world record in the women's 5,000m, setting an incredible time of 14:05.20 at the Meeting de Paris, making it three impressive wins from three in the Diamond League after her dominant victory in Doha.
Faith Kipyegon: Going back to her cross-country roots
The runner, whose passion for running was nurtured in the tough cross-country terrains of her rural village of Ndabibit in Kenya’s vast Rift Valley region, opted to go back to her roots at the beginning of the season to test her readiness for what could be an epic year.
The allure of the ever-changing terrain cutting across hilly, dusty and muddy courses, remains at the heart of the double world cross-country champion’s training, just as it has been at the core of her track successes.
Last February, Kipyegon opened her season with a dominant 10km victory at the Sirikwa Cross-country Classic in the high-altitude city of Eldoret.
Her winning time was a minute clear of her closest rival, providing a perfect tune-up and endurance test for the season ahead.
The endurance boost was evident in the 29-year-old’s season track opener in Doha.
She unleashed her trademark kick with 300m to go for another brilliant career win, setting the tone for a season in which she aims to “win the World Championships, and break the world record this summer.”
After another stint of peak training at her Kapsabet base, which she shares with other middle and distance running greats, including the double Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, she porved that she was ready for the big stage in Florence.
Kipyegon has fond memories of the Italian capital of art.
The Tuscan cities' iconic museums, palaces and churches dazzle her, but her favourite hangout spot is at the stadium Pietro Mennea, named after the great Italian sprinter.
In 2021, the four-time world medallist ran one of her best races there.
She lost to Sifan Hassan in a close contest, but her time of 3:53.91 was the fastest she had ever run- a Kenyan and African record.
And then came Friday (2 June).
Faith Kipyegon's 1500m world record chase
The four-time Diamond League winner had shaved nearly four seconds off her personal best with a blazing run at the Monaco Diamond League last August, one of the six 1500m runs she lined up for last season.
A race that thrilled and stung her in equal measure, as she shared in an interview with Olympics.com, .
“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,” said Kipyegon who at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 became the second woman in Olympic history to win two consecutive Olympic 1500m titles.
The world and Olympic gold medallist wants a triple distinction before her sixth World Athletics Championships this summer.
Her short-term goal is to “break both the 1000m and 1500m” records. After her blistering run in Florence, only the 1000m mark remains on her to-do list, with the bonus of the 5,000m mark also now in her name.
She’s also yearning for a third title at the World Championships.
And Budapest won’t mean the end of the chase for the woman who has indicated her desire to scale up to the marathon in future.
There is also the appeal of claiming a third Olympic track title at her third straight Games at Paris 2024 in her quest to claim the title of the greatest 1500m female runner.
“I want to leave a legacy behind. I want to be a superstar. I still want to do something great,” said the runner who continues to enjoy the “amazing journey of motherhood” by inspiring mums and future female athletes,
“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."