Keeping the faith: Kipyegon chases Bannister milestone

The Kenyan great bids to become the first woman to run the mile under four minutes, 71 years after the Briton achieved folklore status as the first man to the mark

- N Ananthanarayanan

NEW DELHI: In another busy season in world athletics, Swedish pole-vaulter Armand Duplantis is again bettering his world record for fun, nudging the mark up by a centimetre, improving it twice already in 2025, taking his overall count to 12. Faith Kipyegon, the Kenyan 1,500m queen's reign has lasted close to a decade. She has won the last three Olympic and world titles and holds two world records, but come June 26, she will seek to be measured on a different yardstick.

The 31-year-old Kenyan super mom wants to "cement" her legacy by attempting to become the first woman to run the classic mile race under four minutes. Kipyegon's race, planned to the minutest detail by her sponsors Nike and dubbed Breaking4, will be run on the blue track of Stade Charlety in Paris, a venue where she also set her 1,500m world record last year and the mile mark a year earlier.

Kipyegon's mile record stands at 4:07.64, and the target before the woman from Kenya's Rift Valley, renowned for its athletics champions, is 7.65 seconds. While there are a few skeptics, Kipyegon is brimming with confidence.