Why Faith Kipyegon is pursuing a higher purpose

Kenyan middle-distance runner won a record-breaking fourth world 1500m title in Tokyo, but she was intent of aiming for a target that would have an even wider impact on her sport.

“I still feel like 2023 was the most special year for me,” says Faith Kipyegon as she considers where the last 12 months rank in the exceptional body of work she has put together since first representing her country back in 2010. “Breaking three world records [1500m, mile and 5000m] and winning two gold medals [world 1500m and 5000m] in a championship was really amazing.”

But 2025 has been different. For the 31-year-old, it represented more than just the sport, and was about using her athletic talents as a vehicle to spread a wider message. “It was really [about] bigger goals, like: ‘What else can I do in this sport? What else can I achieve to still be inspirational to young girls around the world and be a role model?’,” she says. “This year was to think big, to think outside the box.”

Kipyegon certainly didn’t have anything to prove. Heading into this year, along with her serial world record-breaking habit she was a three-time Olympic and four-time world champion on the track – achievements that have cemented her place as one of the finest ever to lace up a pair of spikes. 

With that in mind, what else could she do that would make an even bigger impact? Yes, she would defend her 1500m and 5000m world titles in Tokyo but she wanted to reach further – to aim for a target that would really get the wider world talking. 

And so it was that, in April, her sponsors Nike revealed the plan for Kipyegon to take on the seemingly impossible and become the first woman to break the four-minute barrier for the mile. The closest she had come was her 4:07:64 from that imperious 2023 summer but tackling the tallest of orders was entirely the point. 

Every element – from her shoes, to her singlet and the male and female pacemakers – was controlled to such a degree that any attempt would not count as a legal record but, much like her good friend Eliud Kipchoge and his pursuit of the sub two-hour marathon, the symbolism of proving what might be achievable was too tempting a possibility to pass up.

The initial reaction was a mix of excitement and scepticism. Few onlookers thought the aim to be realistically achievable but only Kipyegon would truly know just how much of a leap it involved taking, both physically and mentally. So what did she think when the idea was first floated to her?

“When my team started talking about Breaking Four I was like: ‘What am I thinking of?’ I was just putting myself into so much pressure and what I wanted to do was not easy,” she laughs. “We sat down and we were like: ‘Can we try this?’ and I was like: ‘Oh my god, am I going to make it?’ But, at the same time I saw Eliud, how he started with Breaking Two and I thought: ‘If Eliud tried in Monza for the first time, and he was not successful [he ran 2:00:25 for the marathon in Italy in 2017], why don’t I also try?’

“I might be successful, I might not, but I know one day, one time, I am going to be successful. Or maybe someone else will be successful, but I will have shown them the way. We have to do this as women. We have to try what is impossible and make it possible.”

June 26 was the day chosen for the attempt. The Stade Charléty in Paris is the chosen venue. 

Now fewer than 13 pacemakers – a squad of 11 men and two women including the likes of America’s Grant Fisher and Britain’s Elliot Giles, Georgia Hunter Bell and Jemma Reekie – were on hand to aid the star of the show. 

“The attention is all about you and you are in another world,” says Kipyegon as she reflects on the experience. “I was not thinking: ‘What is going to happen?’ but I was thinking: ‘How am I going to tackle this?’, because it is not easy to run 60 seconds every lap and that was really super quick. So I was like: ‘I have to just be myself and just let the whole team do the work. I was so happy to have the whole team around me. I was given an opportunity and I was like: ‘Let me go for this. Let me do what I have to do to make the world proud’.”

Kipyegon ultimately did make history in producing the fastest mile ever run by a woman, but her time of 4:06.42 – 1.22 faster than her world record – was not quite the result she had dreamed of. 

“I learned a lot myself through Breaking Four,” says AW’s International Female Athlete of the Year. “The first thing was all about being patient about what you want to achieve in the future. I would love to go for it again – it’s only that I’m not getting any younger and I want to do other things. But I will not lose hope. I will still keep trying before I do other things like go to the road or go to the half marathon and marathon. So I will try. I will keep on trying to show the other girls that it is possible.”

It did not take long, though, for Kipyegon to make another global statement. All of that mile training had left her in brilliant shape and, rather than feeling jaded by her efforts in Paris, she arrived at the 1500m start line at the 50th Anniversary Prefontaine Classic nine days later energised. The result was spectacular as she clocked 3:48.68 to take down her own world record of 3:49.04. 

There was just one more race – Kipyegon in fact only raced 10 times in 2025 – before the world championships and at the Silesia Diamond League the long-standing 3000m world record almost fell into her grasp, a run of 8:07.04 missing it by just one second and representing the second-fastest time in history. All of the above meant that confidence levels were high ahead of the pursuit of what would be a record-breaking fourth 1500m world title in Tokyo, although nothing was being taken for granted. 

“It was like: ‘I’m the fastest. I have the world record but I have to still be the strongest’,” says Kipyegon. “When you have the world record, you still have to be the best of the best.”

In the final, the Kenyan duly proved that she is with a truly masterful display. 

It is telling that she is beloved by her opponents but she must be excruciatingly difficult to race against. As if to underline just how difficult the Breaking Four assignment of attempting to run four consecutive laps of 60 seconds or less was, the effect of Kipyegon producing 60.73 in the third lap of the 1500m final was stark. Leading the way, she glanced at the big screen, assessed the race situation and turned the screw. 

“I was just enjoying the race,” she tells AW of her 3:52.15 win. “I was like: ‘I don’t want to be pushed or make mistakes’, but I wanted to enjoy the race and make it faster and faster. Afterwards, I went back and watched it and I was like: ‘Oh, I went 60 on the third lap’. The toughest lap in the 1500m is always the third lap. You have to be strong. 

“I thought that 60 [at that point] was the best thing to do. If you have legs of 3:55, you are in a position to win a medal. I was like: ‘I am the world record-holder and this is possible’, so it was really nice to win a gold medal for the fourth time.”

Silver followed in the 5000m, her only outing over that distance this year, behind her great friend, compatriot and world record-holder Beatrice Chebet.

“Beatrice is a talented lady,” says Kipyegon. “She’s a go-getter, she’s amazing and she can still do amazing things. I don’t think her last will be 13:58 [the world record is 13:58.06]. I think she might still lower that to 13:55. She’s fast.”

Both returned to a rapturous welcome in Kenya, as did their fellow world gold medallists Emmanuel Wanyonyi (men’s 800m), Lilian Odira (women’s 800m), Peres Jepchirchir (women’s marathon) and Faith Cherotich (women’s 3000m steeplechase).

“When I go anywhere nowadays I’m being celebrated like a champion, a home girl, like: ‘This is our girl who has shown our country in an amazing way, representing us in a super way’,” says Kipyegon. “I’m so grateful that [people at] home are really celebrating us as athletes and appreciate us.”

However, the headlines have not all been positive for Kenyan athletes in 2025. At the time of writing 20 from the East African nation – including women’s marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich – have been banned for doping this year. In September, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) declared the National Anti-Doping Organisation of Kenya (ADAK) as being non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.

Though WADA say they have seen progress since and the non-compliant status has been eased, ADAK have been placed on a watch list – far from the impression the nation wants to create given its stated ambition of hosting either the 2029 or 2031 World Championships. 

It’s certainly not the way Kipyegon wishes to see her country represented. Her hope is that her example can help create change.

“It’s not easy,” she says. “But I try to be myself and just be who I have been, from being a small girl to where I am. I know my routine. I know my ways of going [about my business]. For something like doping issues, I just hope so many athletes could learn from us, the bigger athletes, and myself.

“I hope others can follow my footsteps or can follow my story, like ‘she started barefoot and she’s now here’, and they can just stay out of those things. That will be the best image of our country rather than destroying the image of our country by getting into those stories of doping scandals. It is not helping and it is not giving you end results. It will just damage the image of the whole country.”

She adds: “Knowing that we have the big athletes… The likes of Eliud Kipchoge is a role model for our country. He’s the greatest of all time and the small athletes have to learn from the bigger athletes. I’m also a big athlete, but I still learn from Eliud. I have learned from retired athletes, knowing that this is how they started and this is where they finished. I try to learn from them and find ways. That is my bigger goal. I hope the younger generation can follow that as well.

“I tried to focus on myself and not to just get into other people’s business. It’s all about who you are. It’s all about what you want to achieve. You have to motivate the young ones and tell them to follow the right way and not the wrong way.”

To Kipyegon, setting the standards and showing the way is crucial. As it was in 2025, it will be at the forefront of her mind as she returns to training, and considers the many options of what she might do next.