New Delhi: It was meant to be many fast-paced strides and a giant leap for women’s sport. In the end, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon narrowly failed in her brave bid to become the first woman to run a sub four-minute mile.
The world record holder in the 1,500m and the mile had to shave off a tough 7.65 seconds from her best to go under 4 minutes. However, in a well-planned run organised and promoted by her sponsor, Nike at Stade Charlety in Paris, Kipyegon drastically slowed in the end of the race, finishing at 4 minutes, 06.91 seconds.
Kipyegon, given a protective shield by her 13 pace-setters looked on course for the four-lap run after reaching the 1000m in 2:30.68. However, the Kenyan triple Olympic and world champion and owner of the 1,500m and mile world record visibly tightened coming into the home stretch to eventually stagger to the finish. The time flashed was 4:06.91.
It was still better than the 31-year-old’s mile world record of 4:07.64, set at the Monaco Diamond League in 2023. Kipyegon, already acknowledged as an all-time track and field great, had taken on the challenge to emulate Roger Bannister in a way, the British doctor having become on May 6, 1954 the first man to run the mile under four minutes.
Her time on Thursday evening is better than her world record, but it will not be ratified by World Athletics because it did not come in a competition, without any special support. Many experts had said it would be asking too much even of one of the finest in athletics history.
The race began at 8.05 pm on a pleasant evening in Paris with the 24 degrees Celsius ideal for a fast time. British women’s Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson described it as a “courageous” attempt. She was part of the final build-up in the stadium along with athletics legends Carl Lewis and Eliud Kipchoge.
Kipyegon wanted to emulate Bannister, 71 years after he had etched his name in history for human endeavour, not just in athletics, which still celebrates the 1954 achievement despite more than 2,000 athletes having run sub four-minute mile since then.
This is the age of cutting-edge technology and that showed in her gear. Kipyegon wore Nike’s Victory Elite FK spikes and a special sports bra designed by the company. Nike also produced an innovative ‘Fly Suit’, advertised as the most aerodynamic attire to cover her from just below the neck to just above the knee to help Kipyegon stay “slippery” and create tiny “aeronodes”, around the neck and hip area, to “disrupt airflow and reduce drag”.
