Last night in Paris, Faith Kipyegon reminded the world exactly why she’s a running legend. At 31, the three-time Olympic 1500m champion lined up at Nike’s “Breaking4” event with one goal: become the first woman to run a mile under four minutes.
Whilst she didn’t quite hit that milestone, crossing the line in 4:06.42, she still ran the fastest mile ever run by a woman. Honestly, watching her fly around the track, it felt like the impossible was suddenly within reach.
Faith ran in perfect conditions, a sleek aerodynamic skinsuit, custom spikes and with a team of pacers keeping her on blistering sub-60-second laps. By the third lap, she was ahead of world record pace. The last 400 metres proved tough, but she still smashed her own world record from last year and showed just how close women can get to shattering barriers once thought impossible.
From Barefoot to Breaking Records
What makes this even more inspiring is where Faith started. As a child in Kenya, she ran barefoot to school. Fast forward and she’s now a seven-time global champion, mother to a six-year-old daughter and one of the fastest humans alive. Her story isn’t just about speed – it’s about dreaming big, daring to try and showing the next generation that limits are often only in our minds.
A Message to the World
Faith’s post-race words were just as powerful as her run:
“We are not limited. We can limit ourselves with our thoughts, but it is possible to try everything and prove to the world that we are strong. Keep pushing.”
It’s a reminder that “failure” is often just a perspective. Headlines may have said she “fell short,” but anyone who witnessed that mile knows she made history – again.
Over 70 years after Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile, seeing a woman get this close feels monumental. Faith didn’t just run a race – she opened the door for the next generation of women athletes to dream bigger, train harder, and dare to achieve.
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