Faith Kipyegon Breaks Her Own World Record
World champion Faith Kipyegon produced world-record-breaking performance during the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Paris on Sunday.
Kipyegon revised her own world record with 3:49.04 in the 1500m in what turned out to be one of the deepest races of all time.
Returning to the scene of her record-breaking mark over 5000m last year, Kipyegon broke her own world 1500m record in the final race of the evening.
The early pace was swift, with Kipyegon covering 800m in 2:04 as Australia’s Jess Hull positioned herself just a stride behind the multiple world and Olympic champion. With the pacemakers having dropped out, Kipyegon covered the third lap in 60.8 seconds and continued to increase her pace.
She kicked at the bell and opened up a gap over Hull, striding clear to win in 3:49.04, taking 0.07 off the world record she set last year in Florence. Hull finished second in 3:50.83, smashing her own Oceanian record to move to fifth on the world all-time list. Laura Muir was third in a British record of 3:53.79, and for the first time ever, 12 women finished inside four minutes.
“I knew the world record was possible because I recently ran very fast in Kenya,” said Kipyegon, who clocked 3:53.98 at Kenya’s Olympic Trials. “I was coming here to just run my race and to see what shape I’m in to defend my title at the Olympics.”
Meanwhile, Djamel Sedjati and Emmannuel Wanyonyi both arrived in Paris unbeaten in 800m finals this year, while Gabriel Tual had won the European title and clocked a PB to win the French title last weekend. But Wanyonyi was coming off the back of a world-leading 1:41.70 win at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, so was considered the man to beat.
The pacemaker had been instructed to cover the first lap in 49.60, so when he hit the half-way mark in 48.79 it appeared as though the tempo may have been a bit too ambitious. But Wanyonyi, Wyclife Kinyamal, Sedjati and Tual were all still in close contention as the pack headed down the back straight for the final time.
Wanyonyi led through the final bend with Sedjati on his shoulder, while Tual moved into third with 100 metres to go. Sedjati then used his trademark kick to pull ahead of Wanyonyi; the teenager tried to respond and managed to close some of the gap, while Tual was also closing fast on the outside, but Sedjati held them off to win in a world-leading national record of 1:41.56.
Wanyonyi was a close second in 1:41.58, revising his recent PB, while Tual took third in a French record of 1:41.61. It was the first time in history that three men have broken 1:42 in the same race; it’s also the first time that six men have finished inside 1:43.
“I’m satisfied with my race and I’m confident that I’ll prepare well for the Olympic Games in Paris in the coming weeks,” said Sedjati, who came within 0.02 of the meeting record set by David Rudisha back in 2012, just a few weeks before he struck Olympic gold with a world record. “I know I can do even better there.”
In one of the closest races of the day, Ethiopia’s Abrham Sime held off Kenya’s Amos Serem to win the steeplechase by two thousandths of a second, both men recording PBs of 8:02.36.
Abraham Kibiwot was third in a season’s best (8:06.70), and there were national records for Tunisia’s Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui (8:09.41), New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish (8:09.64, also an Oceania record) and India’s Avinash Sable (8:09.91).
