On Saturday, Faith Kipyegon became the best cross-country runner of all time. The Kenyan completed the 1500m-5000m double. No other athlete had ever achieved such a feat at a World Athletics Championship.
Faith Kipyegon unstoppable. The Kenyan legend is in the form of her life, sweeping up everything in her path: gold medals, world records... The 29-year-old athlete has won it all. On Saturday August 26, she made even more track and field history. The double Olympic 1500m champion won the 5000m with a time of 14mn53s88. She finished well ahead of Ethiopian-born Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan (14mn54s11) and fellow Kenyan Beatrice Chebet (14mn54s33).
Faith Kipyegon's success marks a historic double. She is world champion in the 1500 m and 5000 m. An unprecedented performance. I was confident," she says with her trademark smile. I was focused on the line, ready to make history. The race wasn't easy. It was tactical, but I'm mentally very stable and I managed to push myself," exclaimed the Kenyan legend in the columns of L'Equipe.
Faith Kipyegon – the undisputed queen of distance running 🙌
A battle to the line, another gold for the Kenyan great.#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/idqqlE88CT
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 26, 2023
This achievement reflects Faith Kipyegon's exceptional season. She broke three world records in the space of two months. She set the tone on June 02 in Florence, where she set a new world record for the 1500m in 3mn49s11. Then, in Paris on June 9, Kipyegon also broke the 5000m world record, finishing in 14mn05s20. at the EBS Herculis meeting in Monaco. She ran 4mn07s64 to set the world record for the mile. It's been an incredible year for me," she concluded. I've been waiting patiently to break world records and do this double. My dream has just come true.
Gangrenous with doping, Kenyan track and field only managed to collect two gold medals in Budapest and that's thanks to Faith Kipyegon. "My aim is to clean up our country.
