Faith Kipyegon disappointed after agonizing World Record miss

Kenya’s multiple Olympic and World 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon has expressed her disappointment after narrowly falling short of breaking the World Record in the distance.

On Wednesday, the reigning 1500m world champion lined up in the Monaco Diamond League with all her sights set on the 3:50.07 record set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba on the same track back in 2015.

Faith Kipyegon narrowly misses the World Record in Monaco

All the early signs pointed towards a fast race as the diminutive athlete tracked the pacemakers through the first 900m, by which time she had left the other competitors far in her wake. For the last 600m, she had only the pacing lights for company and knew she was within touching distance of Dibaba’s seven year record.

However, when she crossed the finish line, she had broken every possible record on the book - the Kenyan record, the meeting record and her personal best - but had just fallen an agonizing 0.3 short of the world mark.

“I knew this was the best place to get the world record so I am disappointed I lost it in the last metres,” the Kenyan athlete is quoted on World Athletics.

It was the second time Kipyegon was attempting to break the record after her attempt in 2021 where she was one second behind the mark.

Having managed to bring the deficit to only 0.3 on her second go Kipyegon, who clocked the second fastest time in history, found a little consolation in getting a new personal best out of the race.

“I have been chasing the time for quite some time but I am happy with the personal best,” she said.

The 28 year old now leaves with this season’s Diamond League title to fight for after booking her spot in the final set to take place in Zurich, Switzerland.

“Now I want to have a good Diamond League final in Zurich,” she concluded.