- Faith Kipyegon didn’t break the four-minute barrier in the mile, but she broke new ground with a bold and brilliant run
- Nike equipped the Kenyan superstar with state-of-the-art technology, including a V-formation of pacemakers around her
- Herein, we break down the stats from that race in Paris and why the mile attempt remains a dream, for now, for Kipyegon
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On Thursday, June 26, at 7:54 pm, Kenyan time, Faith Kipyegon took to social media and reaffirmed what it was all about: daring to dream.
Slightly over an hour later, she stepped onto the turf at Stade Charléty into a storm of applause, almost like Beyoncé at Coachella.
Draped in an all-black Nike-inspired kit and shoes, which were 90g lighter and specially designed for her, she took a light jog, almost like revving up a motor for what lay ahead.
Her nail colours, purple and white, matched the track by the way. Details!
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“The journey hasn’t been so smooth because you have to push the athlete and work with so many people in different environments,” said a nervous Patrick Sang, Kipyegon’s coach, before the race.
“I saw her this morning. She looked nervous, which is a good thing as it shows she is up for it. ”
And boy, was she up for it, the final reading on the clock notwithstanding.
Inside Faith Kipyegon’s Breaking4 race
The gun went off at 9:05 pm with Kipyegon sandwiched between 11 pacemakers dressed in pink. Four minutes and six seconds later, the clock stopped, but it wasn’t the sub-4 Kipyegon and the millions her fans worldwide wanted to see.
Inasmuch as World Athletics won’t recognise it, it would come as a consolation that she lowered her own world record by more than one second.
What Faith Kipyegon needed to go under four minutes
Kipyegon put herself in a situation so demanding, given that no woman had ever run a mile (1609 m) under four minutes. Her personal best before Paris was the 4:07.64 she ran in Monaco in 2023.
In layman’s language, the triple Olympic champion needed to run seven seconds quicker to realise the monumental sub-4 dream.
Inside Nike’s technology for Faith Kipyegon’s Breaking4
Shaving seven seconds off someone’s personal best, science or no science, was always going to be a hard ask, but Nike left nothing to chance.
From the bespoke running spikes to the textured running suits to the use of pacemakers to control pacing and drafting, Nike executives believed it was possible.
After all, who wouldn’t? They had a woman who had won three Olympic titles and four world titles leading the charge.
The science was good, but Kipyegon had to do the running herself, and that was the ultimate difference. The science could only shave a couple of seconds from the personal best, leaving a huge gap for Kipyegon to trim down.
She had five pacemakers in front of her, one beside her and five behind her at the start, but the formation kept changing as they went round the four laps.
Breaking down Faith Kipyegon’s time splits
Kipyegon crossed the first 400m at 60.02 before closing the next 400m at 2:00.75. At that point, the dream looked like it was on to the fans, but then came the brutal stretch.
The third lap is unforgiving. You are already so far in the race that you are starting to feel it, but you are also close enough to the finishing line. Kipyegon took the bell with 3:01:84.
2:00.75 was already slow, as it put her at a 4:02.86 pace for the mile. At 1200m, with only one lap to go, she had dropped to a 4:03.82 pace.
The pacemakers and the green Wavelights, which had been timed at 3:59.99, began to run away from her as a grimacing Kipyegon attempted to close down the race.
She felt the last lap immensely as she completed it in 64 seconds before collapsing on the track, visibly exhausted. A defiant Kipyegon reiterated that it was only a matter of when, not if.
“It’s only a matter of time, I think it will come our way. If it is not me, it will be someone else. I know, one day, one time, a woman will run under 4:00. I will not lose hope.”
What went wrong?
Simply put, nothing really.
You cannot fault Nike for their strategy, and you can absolutely not fault Kipyegon either. It was just another case of maybe a woman wasn’t ready to run a mile yet(this is another full story on androgenization).
Eliud Kipchoge had two attempts like this to run the marathon under two hours. He fell short by 26 seconds the first time, which gave him and the organisers hope that something could be tweaked to achieve their target.
At the second time of asking, he famously clocked 1:59.40.
Will we see another attempt from Kipyegon?
At the press conference, the mother of one gave a strong indication that she will make another stab at it soon.
“It was not easy, but I wanted to prove to the world that everything is possible in life if you dare to try. I am hoping one day, one time, it will come my way.”
The seven-second difference proved too big to bridge, and at this point, the best part would be to wait until Kipyegon (or another woman) runs a 4:03 thereabout in a normal race, then use technology to get her over the line.
When she broke the world record in 2023, Kipyegon chopped more than four seconds from the previous record held by Sifan Hasan.
Another leap of Faith (pun intended) from 4:07 to 4:03, and we might be in business.
The difference between Kipchoge’s Breaking2 attempt and Kipyegon’s was that in a marathon, you have a lot of obstacles you can remove or tweak to make it a possibility, but in the mile, it is a flat distance in a stadium, and there are not a lot of things you can work with.
Matter of if, not when
She dated to dream. She shot for the stars and landed among the stars. She will be back, as impossible is nothing.
It’s not a matter of if a woman will break 4, it’s when – Nike.
Who is Faith Kipyegon’s husband?
Faith Kipyegon’s husband gave her a warm embrace at the finishing line and stayed by her side for a minute or so before she regained her strength.
Her husband, Timothy Kitum, is a former athlete who won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Kipyegon has in the past repeatedly given her husband his flowers for the role he has played in her career.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
