NAIROBI, Kenya, September 16 – Triple Olympics champion Faith Kipyegon has opened the door to competing in the half marathon in the not-so distant future.
Kipyegon says she is inspired by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigsten who made his road race debut at Sunday’s Copenhagen Half Marathon.
“Seeing Jakob running in Copenhagen, it gives me motivation that I can also run in the half marathon. Seeing Sifan (Hassan) also doing 1500m, 5000m and half marathon (at the Paris Olympics), I think it is all about the mental preparations,” the double world record holder said.
Ingebrigsten, the Olympics and world 5000m champion, made his maiden road race appearance on Sunday where he finished 34th in the men’s 21km — having stopped after 10km to catch his breath.
Just like the 23-year-old, Kipyegon may well follow the same career trajectory having tasted success in the 1500m and 5000m.
With four world titles and three Olympics crowns to her name, the 30-year-old has achieved all there is to accomplish on the track.
It has been another plentiful harvest for her in 2024, in which she made history as the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympics titles in the women’s 1500m – following her triumph at the Paris Games.
She also came away from the quadrennial event with silver in the women’s 5000m – the disqualification drama afterwards notwithstanding.
Two weeks before that, Kipyegon had roused the globe to its feet, running 3:49.04 to smash the world record at the Paris Diamond League.
Her latest achievement is a fifth consecutive Diamond League crown following a meet record of 3:54.75 to win the women’s 1500m at the final leg of the circuit in Brussels on Saturday.
Despite the air saturated with the smell of a world record, Kipyegon said that feat was never on her mind coming to the Belgian capital.
“It was a good race and I really thank God for that. The world record was not on my mind today. My goal was to finish my Diamond League season in a good way and I did. It was a good race, but definitely not an easy one. It was a bit cold to run 61 seconds in the first lap and 62 seconds for the next lap. I tried to be myself and focus on the finish line,” she said.
Her next order of business is in New York where she hopes to bring down the curtains on her season on a winning note.
“Hopefully I will finish my season in New York in a good way. It will be my last race of the season. I am still looking forward to race. I started my season very late because of a small problem and I still feel strong,” Kipyegon said.
