Faith Kipyegon: three Olympic golds and a string of world records
From racing barefoot as a teenager to becoming the first woman under 3:49 for 1500m, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon has redefined middle-distance running.
Nairobi — Faith Kipyegon has done what no other woman in history has: won the Olympic 1500m three times. She raced barefoot at her first World Cross Country Championships as a teenager, became a mother in 2018, and came back better than ever.
Where she comes from
Born on 10 January 1994 in Nakuru County and raised near Keringet, she was the eighth of nine children on a family farm. She played football until she took up athletics at school at 14. Her father ran the 400m and 800m in his youth, and her elder sister, Beatrice Mutai, is a road runner.
The titles
- Olympic 1500m gold: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, in an Olympic record of 3:51.29. She also took 5000m silver in Paris.
- World 1500m gold: 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
- World 5000m gold: Budapest 2023.
The records
- 1500m: four world records, among them 3:49.11 in 2023, 3:49.04 in 2024 and 3:48.68 in Eugene in July 2025, making her the first woman to run under 3:49.
- Mile: 4:07.64 in Monaco in 2023.
- 5000m: 14:05.20 in 2023, since bettered by Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay.
In June 2025, in Nike's Breaking4 project in Paris, she ran a mile in 4:06.91, in a specially staged race that was not eligible as a record.
Mother and champion
Her daughter Alyn was born in June 2018. She is married to Olympic 800m bronze medallist Timothy Kitum and has been coached by Patrick Sang since late 2017. She was World Athletics Athlete of the Year (track) in 2023, and the University of Eldoret gave her an honorary degree in 2024, citing her humility and grace.
Background: Wikipedia.
