When Kenyan legend Faith Kipyegon lined up at the Stade Charléty stadium in Paris on Thursday night, she came within striking range of something no woman has ever done before: run a mile in under four minutes. The three-time Olympic champion crossed the line at 4:06.42. A time shy of her goal but one that still goes down in the history books beating her own world record.
While she didn’t quite hit the magic number, Kipyegon sent a very clear message: the sub-four isn’t just a dream anymore. It’s coming, and she might still be the one to do it.
“I was coming here to try to be the fastest woman, it’s only a matter of time, and I think it will come our way,” she said in a post run interview. “I will not lose hope. I will still go for it. I hope I will get it one day.”
Even though her run beat her own world record, it won’t be recognised as an offical time by the international federation. This is because it took place under controlled conditions as part of Nike’s Breaking4 project.
Nike innovated state of the art technology to create an aerodynamic fly-suit, using 3D-printed aeronodes that reduce drag and maximise speed. They also created the Nike FlyWeb Bra which is made from revolutionary 3D printed TPU material, and custom-engineered super spikes with a lighter carbon outsole plate all guided by Kipyegon’s feedback.
She was also joined on the track by 13 elite pacers who were positioned in front and behind her to reduce drag.
While Kipyegon fell short of her goal, big attempts like this can still inspire a generation of women and girls all over the world to dream big when stepping out onto the track. We’re in a golden era of women’s sport where we are finally seeing increased visibility and a big shift for women’s and girl’s codes.
Chantella Perera, Director of Women Sport Australia, told PEDESTRIAN.TV that “this is an incredible attempt and we believe that moments and situations like this is what helps turbocharge the conversation around equality in sport.”
“Whilst it shouldn’t take things like this to bring the conversation to the forefront, the incredible attempt shows society what women are capable of. It also shows young girls what is possible and provides great exposure to a sport like athletics,” said Perera.
Kipyegon already has her sights set on the World Championships set to take place in Tokyo next year and described herself as on track to perform well at the upcoming competition. So if that’s anything to go off, this is just the start of many more big things to come from Kipyegon.
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