FONTVIEILLE, MONACO, July 21 — That Faith Kipyegon needed anything else to be remembered as one of this sport’s greatest legends is doubtful. Yet the 29-year-old Kenyan mother, already the owner of the last two Olympic 1500 gold medals, the owner of two World golds, the holder of the World Records for 1500 and 5000, climbed one mountain more, circling the track at Stade Louis-II four times to obliterate the World Record for the mile.
Kipyegon’s 4:07.64 demolished the old best of 4:12.33, set by Sifan Hassan in 2019, by 4.69 seconds. It was the biggest lowering of the record since the early days of high-level women’s middle-distance racing, when Romania’s Natalia Marasescu ran 4:23.8 to cut 5.7 seconds off the mark in ’77.
It also finally put the standard for the mile — relatively rarely-run for women internationally — on nearly equal terms as the 1500. The standard conversion puts the new mark’s worth at approximately 3:49.27, close enough to Kipyegon’s 1500 record of 3:49.11 for anybody’s satisfaction.
The race itself didn’t go according to script, at least not on the first lap. Two rabbits went to the front, Kristie Schoffield and Winnie Nanyondo. Schoffield, the Boise State ’22 NCAA 800 champion now running for New Balance Boston, got out a bit too fast, and after 200 eased up a little so that the pacing lights could catch up. Not that it fazed Kipyegon, who stayed perfectly alongside the mechanical aid.
The first 400 passed in 61.9, with Kipyegon at 62.6. At 700, Schoffield moved wide and Nanyondo took over. The Ugandan recordholder, a 4-time World Ranker at 800/1500, led past 800 in 2:04.2, a 62.3 circuit. Kipyegon, two strides back in 2:04.6, ran calm and relaxed. Approaching 1000, Nanyondo ran into lane 2 but kept her pace alongside the Kenyan until the curved line.
That left Kipyegon alone at the front, with a rapidly-growing lead of 30-meters plus. With her eyes down, her stride an efficient clip, she powered through the 1200 in 3:06.8, and would need to cover the final 409+ in 65.4 to break the record. On the backstretch, she quickened her stride, her arms pumping harder, eyes straight ahead.
She passed 1500 in 3:51.5, the No. 5 time ever and nearly 4 seconds faster than the 3:55.30 that Hassan split in her WR on the same track. Eyes on the finish, she continued at a full sprint to the line, now…
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