Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon came close but fell short of making history at the Stade Charlety track in Paris on Thursday. The triple Olympic champion aimed to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes but finished with a time of 4:06.42.
The 31-year-old middle-distance star needed to cut more than seven seconds from her own world record of 4:07.64, set in 2023. Despite using special equipment and having help from male pacers, she only managed to improve by just over one second.
Read more: Record-breaking Kipyegon sets new milestone
Kipyegon wore a black one-piece racing suit with matching arm warmers for the Nike “Breaking4” project. A team of world-class male athletes surrounded her during the race to block wind resistance. Five men ran in a line ahead of her as a protective shield, while American Olympic medalist Grant Fisher stayed at her shoulder.
The race followed a carefully planned strategy. Kipyegon stayed on target through the first half of the race but began to struggle in the final stages. She fell behind the pacing lights on the track and slowed down significantly over the last 200 meters.
Because male pacers helped during the attempt, the time will not count as an official world record. This follows the same rule that applied to Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-two-hour marathon in 2019, which also used rotating pacers.
Despite missing her goal, Kipyegon remained positive after the race. She thanked the crowd of about 1,000 spectators who cheered her on throughout the attempt. “I’m tired but I feel good and I tried,” she said at the finish line.
The Kenyan runner plans to keep pursuing the historic milestone. “I will not lose hope. I will still go for it,” she explained. “If there’s not something like this, a special one, I think in a normal Diamond League, or anything, I will still go for it and I hope I will get it one day.”
Kipyegon believes the barrier will eventually fall, whether by her or another athlete. “It’s only a matter of time but I think it will come our way. If it’s not me, it will be someone else,” she said.
The four-minute mile barrier has stood as one of track and field’s greatest challenges since Roger Bannister first broke it for men in May 1954. That same month, Britain’s Diane Leather became the first woman to run under five minutes. The current men’s world record stands at 3:43.13, set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999.
Kipyegon holds the women’s world record in both the 1500 meters and the mile. She set her 1500m world record at the same Paris track where she attempted the sub-four-minute mile on Thursday.
The attempt was part of Nike’s special project designed to help athletes break major barriers in running. The company provided advanced racing technology and organized the ideal conditions for the record attempt.
While Thursday’s effort fell short, Kipyegon’s performance shows that the women’s sub-four-minute mile remains within reach.
