Faith Kipyegon shines in Florence: new world record in 1500 meters

Dream day for Faith. At 29 years old, she achieved one of her most long-awaited dreams, to be the best 1,500-meter athlete ever. The Ridolfi Stadium witnessed a feat that will go down in history. Kipyegon became the first woman to lower the 3′50″ mark, surpassing the record set by Genzebe Dibaba of 3′50″07 in the Monaco Diamond League back in 2015.

When it comes to fulfilling dreams, the record holder has a lot of experience. She was Olympic champion in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, World Champion in London 2017 and Oregon 2022, in addition to winning the silver medal in Doha 2019. The world record she achieved yesterday? All she needed to become the most successful winner in history at that distance.

The race that earned her the record was a real exhibition. She was able to dominate the race from start to finish, had practically no rivals and ran 24.8 kilometers per hour to complete the last lap at 58.81, a mark little seen in sports books. Pure history.

The British Laura Muir, multiple European champion, crossed the finish line almost eight seconds behind the Kenyan. She was left with the silver medal, the same position and being the escort of the same person as in Tokyo 2020. The bronze medal went to the Australian Jessica Hull who, in addition to the podium, won a national record and personal mark when she crossed the finish line at 3 ‘57 “29.

“I am very grateful, today was a wonderful day in which everything came together. The world record had been in my mind since last year, but I wanted to slowly approach it to see what was possible this year. I can’t believe it! Now I have achieved what I wanted and what was in my heart and mind. This season I was focused on achieving what was still missing, the world record. All the athletes waiting for me at the finish line thrilled me. Thank you all,” Kipyegon said after her record.

The record had been elusive to her for several months. In August of last year, she was 30 hundredths away from achieving it, but she had to settle being the second best mark in history with 3‘50“37. This lap she did it, being guided at a great pace by the two North American hares and following the wavelight mark, the lighting technology that sets the pace to break the record. As the seconds went by, that mark was lagging behind her path.

We´ll see what she achieves in the next Budapest World Athletics Championship to be held in August of this year. Faith Kipyegon undoubtedly arrives as the big favorite for gold and thus continues to expand the legend.