Keeping the Faith
Faith Kipyegon is the outstanding female middle distance runner of her generation – some might say of any generation. She is a three-time Olympic champion, a five-time world champion. She is the current world record holder at 2 distances. Unbeaten at 1500 meters since 2021. But this year she has been struggling with injury.
At Pre last month she finished third in 4:17.80 behind Nikki Hiltz. In Monaco, she was fourth in a 3000m in 8:24.21, fully 15 seconds behind Agnes Jebet Ngetich.
At the press conference the day before, she spoke openly about the challenges she was facing:
“It’s not easy competing when you’re only at 98%. To race against the best in the world, you really need to be at 100%. I’ll just try to be myself, run the race I’ve prepared for and continue my recovery.”
She added that Monaco was a special place for her: “Monaco feels like my second home. I was here earlier this year for the 10K, and I’m so happy to be back doing what I love.
It wasn’t an easy decision to race in Eugene because I was still dealing with a slight
hamstring injury. But Eugene and Monaco both hold incredible memories for me
because I’ve broken world records in both places. I simply couldn’t stay away.”
The press conference did reveal a weakness in Faith’s capabilities. When told that one of her competitors was a triathlete, Faith was asked if she would like to try a triathlon – swim, cycle and run – she replied: “No, I’m terrible! If you put me in a swimming pool, I’d drown.”
After finishing fourth in Monaco, some athletes would have dodged the media; but not Faith. She gave her reaction for the official flashquotes: “I am just happy I could run again. Still, I am not feeling very healthy and am still battling a very bad injury, but I am glad I still managed to run. Losing is not good, but again, it is important to accept it when you are not 100% healthy. You need 100% to compete with the best people in the world. So I am just so happy to finish this race. Now I have to go back home, get good treatment, and see how it is going. I still have some competitions left this season”.
She even took time to speak to me – watch my interview with her at:
- https://x.com/AthleticsWeekly/status/2075683922566881432/video/1
Faith Kipyegon, photo by Diamodn League AG
