Multiple Olympics and World 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon will start her race season at Shanghai Diamond League slated for May 16. Kipyegon will race in the women’s 5,000m in the meet in China.
Kipyegon, who trains under the Global Sports Communication stable in Kaptagat, Elgeyo Marakwet, won 5,000m silver at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships.
She told the Nation Sport that, even though she is the world’s best 1,500m runner, she had set up a plan to excel in the longer race and her training over the past few months had been on both speed and endurance.
Silver medallist Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon celebrates with her medal on the podium in Japan.
Kipyegon is, in fact, ranked fourth on the all-time list of fastest runners in 5,000m with a personal best of 14:05.20.
“We are yet in another season and that means we have to continue training and competing and I’m excited. I’m heading to China for my first race this season and I will be looking forward to a good race and another productive season,” Kipyegon said.
Last season, she defended her World Athletics Championships 1,500m gold medal and won silver in 5,000m.
“After a long break, my training has picked up well and I am looking forward to my first race this year,” she said.
Moving to road racing
Kenya’s golden girl of middle distance racing has hinted at moving to road racing which implies running 10km and above. She has already shown her promise in the longer distances.
Kipyegon won the Monaco 10km road on February 15, in a time of 29 minutes and 47 seconds, in her fast competitive race over this length and this kind of surface.
On April 26 last year, Kipyegon set a meeting record in the 1000 metres at the Xiamen Diamond League with a time of 2:29.21 which was 0.06 seconds off her personal best and 0.23 seconds off Svetlana Masterkova’s world record of 2:28.98.
Exactly a month later on June 26, in a special event organised by Nike, Kipyegon’s attempt to become the first woman to break four minutes for the mile came up short by 6.91 seconds as she finished in 4:06.91.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon finishes her attempt to run the women’s mile in under four minutes at the Stade Sebastian Charlety Stadium in Paris on June 26, 2025.
On 5 July, at the Prefontaine Classic, Kipyegon slashed her 1,500 metre world record by 0.36 seconds to 3:48.68, becoming the first woman to break the 3:49 barrier.
The sky is the limit for her this season as she looks to cement her greatness.
Meanwhile from dreams of rugby glory for New Zealand to a Hail Mary shot at the NFL, sprinter Eddie Nketia is now on track to win medals for Australia and take a share of the limelight trained on teen talent Gout Gout.
Nketia clocked Australia’s fastest 100m in 9.84 seconds at a US college meet last month, albeit with a tailwind that ruled it out of the record books.
Australians latching onto the enormous potential of 18-year-old Gout and 22-year-old Lachlan Kennedy may now have another star in the sprinting firmament.
For 24-year-old Nketia, who runs for University of Southern California (USC), the buzz back in Australia since his 9.84 at the Mt SAC Relays has been almost as overwhelming as the run itself.
Additional reporting by Reuters