Triple Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya fell well short in her bid to become the first woman to run a sub-four minute mile on Thursday.
Aided by wavelength technology and 13 pacers, 11 male and two women, Kipyegon clocked 4min 06.42sec over 1.6km in perfect conditions at Stade Charlety in south Paris.
The time was better than her own world record of 4:07.64 in the non-Olympic event set in Monaco in 2023. But it will not stand as a new world record given the presence of male pacemakers.
“I’m exhausted, I feel tired,” said the 31-year-old Kipyegon.
“I tried to be the fastest woman under four minutes, I’ve proven it’s possible, it’s only a matter of time. I think it will come one day, if not me someone else.”
No woman has ever attempted the sub-4min feat, which was first achieved in 1954 by Britain Roger Bannister — in 3min 59.4sec — in what has gone down as one of track running’s most momentous achievements.
When Bannister ran a sub-four minute mile 71 years ago, racing conditions were very different. The Briton did it after a morning’s work at a hospital during a meet on a cinder track in Oxford and wearing heavy spiked shoes.
Almost 2,000 male athletes have gone on to run sub-4min times since 1954.