Double world record holder Faith Kipyegon can’t stop winning. The 29-year-old was on Wednesday named the LG/Sports Journalists Association of Kenya Sports Personality of the Month for June.
Kipyegon started the month well, breaking the world 1500 metres record in the Florence Diamond League on June 2 after clocking 3:49.11 to erase the previous record set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in 2015 by 0.96 seconds. Dibaba won in 2015 Monaco in 3:50.07.
The world record is the only thing that was missing from Kipyegon’s trophy cabinet, having won the world title in 2017 and 2022 and the Olympic gold medals in 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo.
Briton Laura Muir finished second in 3:57.09 as Australia Jessica Hull came third in a national and area record time of 3:57.29.
The Kenyan middle distance running queen would then shock the world eight days later when she not only floored pre-race favourite Letesenbet Gidey but also shattered the world 5,000m record held by the Ethiopian.
Kipyegon timed 14 minutes and 5.02 seconds for victory in the Paris Diamond League on June 9 in the French capital.
Kipyegon overtook previous record holder Gidey with 600m to go, beating the previous record of 14:06.62 set by the Ethiopian on July 10, 2020 in Valencia, Spain.
Kipyegon walked home with a trophy and a Wi-Fi enabled dishwasher courtesy of the award’s sponsors LG Electronics in a short ceremony held at the Global Sports Communications Camp in Kaptagat.
This is the second time Kipyegon is winning the monthly award. She was named the LG/SJAK Sports Personality of the Month for August 2022 after the World Championships in Oregon, USA last year.
