Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon spent 2023 writing history, in a very personal way.
The 29-year-old runner broke world records over 1500m, one mile and 5,000m and shattered expectations to cement her status as the undisputed queen of track this year.
“I wrote in my diary that 2023 will be a special year and it came true,” she told BBC Sport Africa.
Aside from her records, Kipyegon won two World Championship gold medals and picked up a fourth Diamond League trophy in a season where self-belief fuelled her desire to succeed.
“I believed in myself more than I believed in myself years back, that is what changed,” Kipyegon explained.
With her time over 5,000m bettered by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay in September, the 1500m world record Kipyegon broke back in June in Florence has pride of place in her list of achievements this year.
With a time of three minutes and 49.11 seconds, Kipyegon became the first woman to run the middle-distance event in under three minutes and 50 seconds – an achievement celebrated even by those she beat.
“I’ve been working hard to achieve, especially the 1500m world record, which was missing from my trophies, because I have all the medals from World Championships and Olympics,” she reflects.
“In 2021 I tried [to break the 1500m world record] in Monaco. In 2022 I tried again but I didn’t get it.
“But now I have it. I have been patient to get this historical milestone.”
“For the other competitors to come and celebrate with me was the most emotional moment for me, because I think I was the first to be celebrated on track like that. It has never happened in athletics.”
Barefoot beginnings
Kipyegon began her athletics career at 16, two years after her introduction to the sport.
She started by running cross country meets, winning her first individual global title running barefoot at the World Junior Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain, in March 2011.
“I was comfortable to run barefoot at the time, I didn’t have shoes by then,” Kipyegon, who won a total of five medals at World Junior Cross Country level, said.
“That put me in another level whereby I have to believe in myself – that everything in life goes step by step and at the end you will achieve what you want.”
It was the start of a successful rise with global titles on the track as a junior, Commonwealth gold in 2014 and her first major world title coming over 1500m in London in 2017.
The following year Kipyegon took a year-long break from the sport to have her first child.
On her return, she picked up right where she left off. In Tokyo in 2021 she became only the third woman to successfully defend an Olympic title after having a baby in between editions.
In becoming the first woman to win both the 1500m and 5,000m world titles at the World Championships in Budapest this year, Kipyegon has now won more global titles since having her first child than she had before becoming a mother.
“I think it (becoming a mother) changed my mentality, because when you’re a young girl you just enjoy the world and the money you’ve got,” the world record holder explains.
“But if you have a baby, it opens your mind and it shows having a child doesn’t mean the end of your career.
“And my daughter is inspired by me.”
Finding balance and having a strong support system at home is what Kipyegon attributes to her ability to navigate motherhood and career successfully, and the Kenyan has some advice for fellow mums who are athletes.
“I will advise them to be patient,” she says.
“When it comes to take care of your family you have to be there. When it comes to being in training camp, be in training.
“It’s all about balancing both, believing in yourself and pushing yourself to the limit.”
Kipyegon’s achievements this year have earned her recognition both at home and globally.
Kenya’s President William Ruto has bestowed upon her a national civilian award, while World Athletics crowned her female track athlete of the year.
“It was a beautiful year with historical moments that’s put me in another level, where I see myself as an inspiration to many,” Kipyegon reflected.
In 2024 she will be hoping to make even more history at the Paris Olympics as she goes for a third consecutive gold medal in the 1500m.
