Faith Kipyegon became the first Kenyan female athlete to win back to back Olympic Gold medal after finishing at the top of 1500m race in Tokyo, Japan.
The 27 year old floored her competitor and one of the race favorites Sifan Hassan of Netherlands to clinch gold in a new Olympic Record time clocking 3:53.11.
Faith Kipyegon of #KEN takes #gold in the women’s 1500m final, defends her title and smashes the OR!@WorldAthletics | #StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | #Athletics pic.twitter.com/O7pdAkHhZs
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 6, 2021
Britain’s Laura Muir claimed a superb silver medal as she shattered the British record to finish behind the defending champion.
The 28-year-old Scot, who has come close in a succession of world and Olympic finals without making the podium, hit the bell on the shoulder of Kipyegon and world champion Sifan Hassan.
Kipyegon is the second woman in 1500m Olympic history to defend the title after Soviet athlete Tatyana Kazankina who won three Olympic gold medals and set seven world records in women’s running events during the 1970s and ’80s.
Congratulations Faith Kipyegon for the great win. It is gold for Kenya. She becomes the first Kenyan female athlete to win gold back to back in Olympics. #TokyoOlympics2020 #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/2dHAuAUEO8
— David Rudisha (@rudishadavid) August 6, 2021
David Rudisha is another Kenyan runner to have successfully defended his Olympic title at the 2016 Summer Olympics, taking gold with a time of 1:42.15. He was the first person since Peter Snell in 1964 to win back-to-back Olympic 800m titles.