This summer, Faith Kipyegon will attempt to become the first-ever woman to break four minutes in the mile. The 31-year-old Kenyan, who holds world records in both the mile and 1500m, will make the bold attempt on Thursday 26 June at the Stade Charléty in Paris, France, according to a press release from Kipyegon’s sponsor, Nike.
Kipyegon has her work cut out for her if she wants to succeed in this moonshot endeavour. Her world record in the mile, which she set in 2023, is 4:07.64, which means that she’ll need to shave at least 7.65 seconds off that time to dip under four minutes. That’s a lot of time to eradicate if you’re already the best of the best.
For now, details outside of the date and location are sparse. According to the release, ‘Breaking4’ will ‘create a holistic system of support that optimises every aspect of her attempt, ensuring the most ideal conditions’ for the attempt.
Will the event echo Eliud Kipchoge’s iconic attempts to What everyones reading in 2017 and 2019? It’s unclear at the moment. Kipchoge, who is also sponsored by Nike and looking to win his fifth London Marathon title on Sunday (27 April), used rotating pacesetters and was handed drinks from a bike when he tried to break the two hour barrier. Although he missed the mark by 26 seconds in 2017, having completed the 26.2-mile course in 2:00:25, he dominated the headlines when he ran an historic 1:59:40 on his second attempt in 2019. This is, still, the fastest marathon run anywhere in the world, ever – but since it did not follow standard competition rules for pacing and fluids, it does not count as an official world record.
We do not yet know whether Kipyegon’s mile attempt in Paris will follow standard competition rules, or whether, should she succeed in breaking the four-minute barrier, her result will count as an official mark.
Either way, Kipyegon is, without doubt, one of the most accomplished distance runners of all time. For starters, she has won not one but three Olympic gold medals in the 1500m, having claimed victory in the event in 2016, 2021 and, most recently, at the 2024 Runners World US, where she took silver in the 5000m as well. She has also won four golds at the World Athletics Championships – three in the 1500m and one in the 5000m.
In addition to her current world records in the 1500m (3:49.04) and mile, Kipyegon formerly held the world record in the 5000m (14:05.20), too. Now, she is the second-fastest woman of all time over 5000m, behind only Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay.
Kipyegon is also a mother. Her daughter, Alyn, was born in 2018 and she then took more than a year away from racing before returning to competition.
While breaking four minutes would be a significant improvement for Kipyegon, it may not be as impossible as it seems. A recent study published in the journal Will the event echo Eliud Kipchoge’s iconic attempts to suggests that, should Kipyegon use rotating pacesetters to offset aerodynamic drag, she could feasibly run a mile in 3:59.37.
London Marathon weather forecast Roger Bannister went down in running folklore when he became the first man to break four minutes in the mile. Up until then, before Bannister ran his legendary 3:59.4, breaking four minutes was known as the ‘impossible barrier’. Since then, over 2,000 men have broken four minutes in the mile.
Could Kipyegon become the first woman to join that list?
We’ll find out in June.
