World champion Faith Kipyegon has taken a step forward to ensure that women in her rural home of Keringet, Kericho County, could give birth safely, eight years after giving birth to her daughter, Alyn.
In Keringet and its surrounding areas, pregnant women often endure long, exhausting journeys, walking up to 35 kilometres, just to reach a health facility. The hardship, Kipyegon says, is something she has witnessed since childhood and continues to see today.
Inspired by the hardships pregnant women go through in her rural area, the global athletics icon has established a maternity, a health facility that has come as a sigh of relief to the locals in Keringet for safer childbirth.
Personal experience
“I experienced so many things,” Kipyegon said. “I said, ‘If I can experience this, yet I’m in a better place where I can go for better health care at the best facilities, what about a mother who is pregnant back at the village? ”Faith Kipyegon told World Athletics.
“When we see what our mothers went through back at home, while growing up in Keringet and actually still today, I see something that breaks my heart,” she added.
“I see women go into labour full of hope, carrying life, carrying dreams, and too many times, they come back empty-handed. Not because they did anything wrong, but because the care they needed was too far away, too limited, or simply not good enough. As a mother of Alyn, I want to do this to change the community.”
Since 2018, Kipyegon has etched her name deeper into athletics history, collecting two Olympic gold medals in the 1500m, four world titles across the 1500m and 5000m, and setting new world records. Yet, on Wednesday, January 25, in Ndabibit village, she marked a milestone that transcended sport.
That day, she presided over the groundbreaking ceremony of a maternity facility, a decisive step toward turning her long-held dream into reality. For Kipyegon, it was a profoundly emotional moment, symbolising her roles as a mother, a daughter and a servant of her community.
Proud moment
“This is the happiest thing I’ve done for my community, which I feel so proud of, because it is something I have been dreaming of, thinking, what can I give to my people?. These people take care of me. These people stood by my side. I can’t wait to open the real thing,” Kipyegon added.
At a national level, Kenya continues to grapple with high maternal mortality. According to 2025–2026 figures, the country records 355 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, translating to an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 women dying each year due to pregnancy-related complications. For Kipyegon, such statistics are unacceptable.
