Triple Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon failed in her attempt to become the first woman to run a 1-mile race in under 4 minutes in the race dubbed Breaking4 in Paris, France, yesterday.
The 31-year-old cut the tape in 4:06.22 minutes, shaving off 1.22 seconds from her world record but almost 7 seconds from the target.
Running with 13 pacemakers, 11 men and two women, Kipyegon completed the first lap in 1:00.20 and ran through 800 m in 2:00.75.
The triple world champion went through the bell in 3:01.84 and took 1:05.00 for the last lap, which was the slowest.
“This was the first trial,” she said. “We are learning many lessons from this race. I will go back to the drawing board to get it right. And I think there is more in the tank.”
Kipyegon wore super shoes, which were 90 gram, and donned a special skin suit, designed to help her be more aerodynamic.
The race organised by Nike was used to display how technology can push human limits in running.
It was the 2nd tech-based race after the 2022 Ineos 1 59 challenge when Eliud Kipchoge became the 1st human to complete a marathon race in under 2 hrs.
