On Thursday June 26, the world will watch as Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon attempts to become the first woman in history to run a mile in under four minutes. Kipyegon’s 4 minute mile attempt will take place at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris tonight at 9pm Kenyan time. This is the same stadium where Kipyegon broke her own 1,500m world record in 2024.
This attempt has been billed as one of the boldest in the history of athletics. Already, Kipyegon is the current world record holder in the 1 mile event. She broke the record with a time of 4:07:64 in July 2023.
The mile that Kipyegon will run is 1,609 metres. This is equivalent to a little over four full laps of the 400-metre track. This means that for Kipyegon to run under four minutes, she will need to cut her world record time by about 2 seconds per lap.
At a 4 minute mile pace, two seconds equals about 13.4 metres. This means that Kipyegon will be aiming to beat her 2023 world-record pace by about 54 metres. But if there is anyone who can pull off this “mission impossible” task, it is Kipyegon. In fact, Kenya and the world has faith that Faith will be crossing the line into the annals of history tonight.
“Breaking4 will cement my legacy and give hope to the next generation, and for women to believe that we can expand our boundaries and dream big. It will give hope to other women that everything is possible if we believe in ourselves and just do it,” says Kipyegon.
Born on January 10, 1994, Kipyegon has a highly decorated track career in which she has smashed world records multiple times. She is currently ranked as the world number one athlete in the 1500 metres category by World Athletics.
Kipyegon is also the current Olympic champion in the 1500 metres which she won in August 2024 during the Olympic Games that were held in Paris. She also brought home the Olympic silver medal in the 5000 metres event.
In just a span of months between 2023 and 2024, she broke three world records. She broke the women’s world 1,500 metres record with a time of 3:49.11 in Florence on 2 June 2023 that had been set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in Monaco on 17 July 2015.
She followed this up with the women’s world 5,000 metres record with a time of 14:05.20 in Paris on June 9, 2023. This record had been set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in Valencia on October 7, 2020.
On July 7, 2024, she broke her own 1500m World Record with a new time of 3:49:04 in Paris during the Diamond League meet.
Months earlier, on September 16, 2023, Kipyegon had won the 1500 metres Diamond League final in Eugene, Oregon, United States. This had come barely three weeks after she won the 1500 metres and 5000 metres races in Budapest, Hungary, during the 2023 World Athletics Championship.
Kipyegon also defeated Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands to complete a gold double at the World Athletics Championship competition that were held from August 19th 2023 to August 27, 2023.
When Kipyegon broke the women’s mile world record in July 2023, she shaved almost five seconds off Sifan Hassan’s standard from four years earlier. Before that, it had taken more than 30 years to lower the mile record by such a margin.
Kipyegon’s attempt to break the four-minute barrier is backed by Nike, which has branded the project Breaking4. It is also sponsored by Safaricom, the largest telecommunications firm in East and Central Africa.
“Faith Kipyegon represents the very best of Kenya’s resilience, ambition, and world-class excellence. She aims to make history once again by becoming the first woman in the world to run a mile in under four minutes. We are proud to stand with her and rally the entire country to support her,” says Safaricom chief executive officer Peter Ndegwa.
Interestingly, Safaricom has a special 4GB YouTube bundle for just Sh4 that is specially designed to allow Kenyans to watch Kipyegon make history. This affordable YouTube bundle can be accessed dialing *544#, and will enable Kenyans to stream and watch the race live on their phones, tablets or televisions.
READ MORE: Safaricom unveils Sh4 Youtube bundle in support of Faith Kipyegon’s 4-minute mile bid
