Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon gave herself a timely boost for the upcoming Olympics by breaking her own world record in the women’s 1500m at the Paris Diamond League meet on Sunday. With the help of two pacemakers, Kipyegon surged to the front and clocked an impressive 3 minutes 49.04 seconds at Stade Charlety. This performance improved her previous record, set in Florence in June 2023, by 0.07 seconds.
At 30 years old, Kipyegon will return to Paris for the Summer Games as one of the favorites. She is already a double Olympic 1500m champion and holds three world titles. Last year at the World Championships in Budapest, she achieved a remarkable double victory by winning both the 5,000m and the 1500m events.
“It feels amazing to break the world record. I am in the right direction towards the Paris Olympics,” Kipyegon said.
“I have come from far because of the injury and recovering. After the trials I knew that I was in world record shape. I have run the quickest time in Kenya with the altitude.
“It showed me that I was capable of breaking the world record again. We just tried, because everything is possible.”
Australian Jessica Hull ran an Oceania record of 3:50.83 for second, while Britain’s Laura Muir rounded out the podium in a national record of 3:53.79 as the top eight athletes all set personal bests.
“Jessica was really good. I felt that she was behind me and I had to be careful because you never know if something can happen. But I just relaxed and ran my race,” said Kipyegon.
“I knew that she is strong because she has broken the area record many times. The crowd was really cheerful, that was why the energy was so strong, it is really pushing us towards the finish line.
“With my injury I was really scared because I didn’t know if I was going to make it. But I took my time and trusted my team and stayed out of competition for long.
“I will absolutely do the double in Paris, in the 1500m and 5000m!”
Muir said she had “sensed” that Kipyegon was going to go for the record.
“The Olympics are going to come in no time, so I am very happy and excited. I did know that I was in this kind of shape. I knew I was in a good spot, but I needed to run my own race. I’ve never run under 3:54 before so it was amazing,” Muir said.
“We’re not surprised,” she said of Kipyegon’s effort.
“This is my fourth race with Faith where she broke the world record and it is amazing to be a part of that. She is able to do something that we have never seen and that drags all of us to run fast times as well.”
Given the competition in the event, Muir added: “To win an Olympic medal will require a very fast time. It is going to be so, so hard.”
