Faith Kipyegon breaks her own world record in 1,500 meters

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya broke her world record in the women’s 1,500 meters at the Diamond League track and field meeting in Paris on Sunday.

Kipyegon finished in 3:49.04, surpassing her record of 3:49.11, which was set in Italy last year.

“I knew the world record was possible because I recently ran very fast in Kenya,” said Kipyegon, who clocked 3:53.98 at Kenya’s Olympic Trials. “I was coming here to just run my race and to see what shape I’m in to defend my title at the Olympics.”

Nine other runners in the race achieved personal bests. Jessica Hull of Australia finished second in 3:50.83, smashing her own Oceania record by five seconds. Laura Muir was third in a British record of 3:53.79.

The 30-year-old Kipyegon is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500, having won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021. Before Sunday, she had only run twice in 2024, in the 1,500 and 5,000, to secure her spot for the Paris Olympics at the Kenyan trials in June.

Kipyegon’s performance came less than an hour after Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke the world high jump record with a leap of 2.10 meters.