Four-minute mile a possibility for women: Study

Nearly three-quarters of a century after Roger Bannister of Britain, in 1954, became the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, an achievement that many at the time thought unattainable, scientists are saying they believe a woman could now also break the barrier and further expand the limits of human possibility.

- Jere Longman

A study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science on Feb 25 theorises that Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, who in 2023 set the women's world record of 4min 7.64sec, could feasibly run a time of 3:59.37 as soon as 2025 by sufficiently reducing aerodynamic drag with improved drafting off pacesetters.

Critics might dismiss a woman's bid for a four-minute mile as unlikely, a publicity stunt or a mere lab experiment. But the study's authors believe a successful try would erase a mental barrier, inspire other women and become a symbolic achievement in a race where running four laps of a track, in just under one minute per lap, still holds a kind of mythical allure.

"A lot of people said it was physiologically impossible for Bannister or anybody to break four minutes, and I'm sure lots of bros are going to say, 'No way a woman is ever going to run four minutes; it's seven seconds away,'" said Rodger Kram, a biomechanist and emeritus professor at the University of Colorado and one of the authors of the study.

"But people have said women can't do a lot of things, and then they have."

What is not yet known is whether Kipyegon would be interested in the challenge. Kram said he was sending a copy of the study to her and her coach.

In a statement early on Feb 26, Kipyegon said from Kenya that she found the study to be "interesting", and added: "I appreciate people taking my world record performance as an inspiration to imagine what could be possible in the future."