World record holder in the 1500 and 5000m, Faith Kipyegon, is scheduled to race the mile (1600m) at this year’s Monaco Diamond League (DL) slated for Friday 21 July.
Kipyegon broke the 1500m world record at the Florence Diamond League on June 2nd before following up with an even more breathtaking record in the 5000m in Paris a week later.
As she heads to Monaco where she was initially scheduled to race her specialty, the 1500m, before a change was made to have her go for mile, all eyes are on the 29-year-old as she goes for yet another piece of record.
Her feat in Florence and Paris made her the first athlete in DL history to break the world record in two separate disciplines on the circuit.
Many are eager to see her go one better and claim a third world record of 2023 as she is certainly the firm favourite in the race.
The two-time Olympic champion who last raced the mile in 2016 holds a personal best time of 4:16.71 in the distance, a time recorded in Boudewijnstadion, Bruxelles in Belgium.
Rival Sifan Hassan of Netherlands holds the world record in the sparingly- competed distance with a time of 4:12.33 which should be Kipyegon’s target in Monaco.
Hassan’s time has stood for four years, having been set on 12 July 2019 and was coincidentally set in Monaco.
Kipyegon goes up against Olympics silver medalist and Commonwealth Games champion in 1500m, Great Britain’s Laura Muir, World Indoor silver medalist Freweyni Hailu, 2018 African bronze medalist Habitam Alemu, Australian Jessica Hull among others.
The DL points she amasses will still go towards the 1500m qualification campaign even as the mile presens a new challenge for Kipyegon, who last ran the distance at a DL meeting in Oslo in 2016.
