Kipyegon becomes the first athlete to win three consecutive 1500m gold medals and sets a new Olympic record.
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon made history by becoming the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 1,500 metres with a superb display of middle-distance running.
The 2016 and 2020 champion, 30, produced a tactical masterpiece at the Stade de France on Saturday to take gold in a new Olympic record of 3 minutes 51.29 seconds.
Australia's Jessica Hull took silver in 3:52.56, while Britain's Georgia Bell took bronze in 3:52.61.
It was another remarkable performance from Kipyegon, the reigning world champion who can now claim to be the greatest female middle-distance runner in history.
Kipyegon had bided his time early in the race, allowing Gudaf Tsegay to set the pace before pulling alongside the Ethiopian just after the first lap.
Tsegay continued to lead at the bell, but quickly lost speed and fell back as Kipyegon accelerated into first place.
With 200 metres to go, Kipyegon kicked towards the line and although Hull and Bell gave chase, they never seemed to find the speed to catch the Kenyan as she raced towards the line for her unprecedented Olympic 1,500m treble.
The Kenyan also has three gold medals over the same distance at the World Athletics Championships, the last of which will take place in Budapest in 2023.
ALL. THE. FEELINGS.
3rd Olympic gold in 1500m for Faith Kipyegon of 🇰🇪 😤
No one in history has ever won 3 1500m medals at the Olympics, let alone 3 golds 🤯#Paris2024 #Olympics image.twitter.com/z0nQl3lIQt
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 10, 2024
'I've come a long way'
In her home country, Kipyegon is known as the “Queen of the 1,500 meters.”
In an interview early last year, Kipyegon told Al Jazeera that she has loved running since she was five years old and wants to inspire more girls to take up the sport.
The diminutive, all-time leading 1,500-meter runner grew up in the Rift Valley in western Kenya, known as a breeding ground for runners.
The world record holder's journey began in the shifting, muddy, dusty and mountainous terrain of Ndababit village, 233 kilometres (144 miles) west of Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
“I used to run barefoot from my village to primary school because in Kenya schools are so far away that you always end up running to get there on time,” Kipyegon told Al Jazeera ahead of the Diamond League event in Doha.
“I have loved [running] “Since I was a little girl, I never thought I would one day become an Olympic champion,” she said, laughing.
Among Kipyegon's long list of career milestones, winning a second Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 after returning from a maternity break stands out as a testament to her tenacity and determination.
Kipyegon credits motherhood and her daughter Alyn for helping her make a competitive comeback.
“It wasn’t easy as I could barely walk for 20 minutes the first time I got back on track,” she said in a video on social media in 2022, as she reflected on the difficulties of returning to the track after giving birth.
“But the strength that Alyn gives me has helped me overcome every challenge.”
