Kipyegon seeks history with four-minute mile attempt

Triple Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya will attempt to make history by becoming the first woman to run a sub-four minute mile on Thursday, but to do so she must shave nearly eight seconds off her world record.

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Already the world record holder in this non-Olympic distance equivalent to 1.6km, Kipyegon will nevertheless have to smash her own benchmark of 4min 07.64sec by gaining almost two seconds per 400m.

No woman has ever attempted the feat, which was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister -- in 3min 59.4sec -- in what has gone down as one of track running's most momentous achievements.

When Bannister ran a sub-four minute mile 71 years ago, racing conditions were very different. The Briton did it after a morning's work at a hospital during a meet on a cinder track in Oxford and wearing heavy spiked shoes.