Last Saturday, Kenya’s triple Olympic track champion Faith Kipyegon boarded a private Gulfstream jet from Paris to Portland, USA, with a deep sense of satisfaction following her “Breaking4” mission in the French capital.
Her next stop will be this Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, where she will be seeking something special and a seventh win at Hayward Field over her 1,500 metres specialty.
The 31-year-old mother of one may have failed to achieve the dream of becoming the first woman to run the mile in under three minutes, clocking 4:06.42 in the specially choreographed race against the clock at the Sebastian Charlety Stadium last Thursday, but she achieved a greater deal in the grand scheme of things.
Supported by a cocktail of pacemakers and racing in a specially-designed Nike suit and prototype running spikes specifically built for the challenge, Kipyegon remained confident that the mythical four-minute barrier will fall “soon” for the women with Sir Roger Bannister having been the first man to dip under 4:00.00 about 70 years ago in 1954.
The Breaking4 attempt was Kipyegon’s way of proving the barrier once considered an insurmountable limitation and beyond the reach of the world’s most elite women athletes is beatable.
She was attempting to shave at least 7.65 seconds off her world record time of 4:07.64, set in 2023 at the Stade Louis II in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
While the superstar from Keringet in Nakuru County fell short, unbeknownst to many, she broke new ground enroute, covering the 1,500m distance in 3:49.00 which is faster than her legal world record over the distance of 3:49.04.
Kipyegon also crossed the mile mark in 4:06.42, which is faster than her mile world record 4:07.52 from Monaco – two achievements that would have counted as world records had the race been run within World Athletics rules, without the male pacemakers, the special shoes and circumstances.
But perhaps the greatest triumph of all was the lives she touched and the impact her run will have to the people of her Keringet home in Nakuru County.
To celebrate her phenomenal, daring, barrier-breaking contribution to athletics, Kipyegon has been rewarded by her sponsors, American sportswear giants Nike, who will construct the “Dare to Dream Maternity Ward” in Keringet to support mothers and their newborn babies.
An advocate of safe motherhood, Kipyegon has been using her superstar status in sport to rally support for mothers and children and this was very much in her crosshairs as she did the four laps at the Charlety.
“Faith has been rewarded with the “Dare to Dream Maternity Ward” that will be built in Keringet to give back to her community!,” Marleen Vink Rennings, Director of Kipyegon’s management company – Netherlands-based Global Sports Communications – confirmed. “Faith is passionate about supporting facilities for pregnant women and babies.”
Also a Safaricom brand ambassador, Kipyegon is comforted by the impact she has had on young girls around the world, including her own seven-year-old daughter Alyn.
“She (Alyn) called me and she was very happy that I have inspired her and I’ve given her the second eye to look at bigger dreams, to dare to dream and make it in life. This (Breaking4 attempt) is for the next generation. They live to dream and we don’t stop dreaming…. we keep dreaming and my message to the young girls is ‘dare to dream’.”
Safaricom supported Kipyegon’s Breaking4 attempt and Kenyans were able to watch a stream of the race by dialing *544# to access a special Safaricom 4GB YouTube bundle for just 4 shillings.
As she planned her next move after Paris, Kipyegon’s sponsors surprised her with the announcement that they would honour her request to have a maternity ward build to support mothers in Keringet.
“Nike is going to build a maternity ward, and it’s going to be called ‘The Dare to Dream Maternity Ward’. Not only did you inspire, but with the difference you are going to continue to make, the legacy lives on, Faith. You inspired us, and inspired a new generation,” Nike said.
“And now you continue to build your legacy where you had asked us to support – The Dare to Dream Maternity Ward’.”
Kipyegon was delighted that the hospital will help many mothers around her home area: “When you have been having your baby in the stomach for nine months, you are not happy to lose your child, and this hospital will help many mothers out there in my community,” Kipyegon reacted.
“Faith epitomizes everything we love about sport and the belief we have in our athletes. Her moonshot continues our legacy of supporting bold, pioneering pursuits that move the world forward through the power of sport,” Tanya Hvizdak, Vice President, Global Sports Marketing, at Nike said.
Kipyegon’s partnership with Safaricom started in 2023 when the company awarded her Sh2 million in a year in which she broke three world records in the 1,500m, 5,000m and the mile (in Florence, Paris and Monaco, respectively) while also winning the 1,500m and 5,000m double gold at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Last Thursday, Safaricom also hosted a Breaking4 watch party in Eldoret and urged Kenyans to send in their messages of support for the Kenyan heroine using the hashtag #Kenyans4Faith.
ENDS
Elias Makori, the founder and Managing Editor of Pura Vida Sports Africa, is a veteran sports journalist with over 30 years’ experience. Makori is a holder of a Masters in Sports Management degree from Barcelona’s Cruyff Institute and is also the 2012 World Athletics Journalist of the Year, three-time Kenya Sports Journalist of the Year and twice Africa Sports Media Personality of the Year.
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