Faith Kipyegon explains why she chose 5,000m over 1,500m for season opener in China

Four-time 1500m world champion Faith Kipyegon says 2026 will be the year she gauges what she still has to offer on the track, before potentially moving on to bigger challenges off it.

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The 32-year-old left minds rolling for yet another time in her career, when she projected what her new year would look like, during the eve of the opening leg of the 2026 Diamond League season in Keqiao on Saturday, 16 May.

“The big goal is the World Ultimate Championships, and just to keep being consistent and see what I still have in the tank for the track,” a smiling Kipyegon, who was seated alongside pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis, said of a pretty blank 2026, which will neither have the Olympic Games, nor the World Athletics Championships.

‎‎“I am moving slowly. Now I’m doing the 5,000m; I don’t know what’s next, but I want to enjoy everything this year.”

For the first time since Paris in 2023, Kipyegon will on Saturday line up for a 5,000m Diamond League race, where she will look to win her 30th race in the event across 11 years.

Asked of her expectations at the China Textile City Sports Center, a stadium she has never run in before, the three-time Olympic champion said:‎ “It’s great to be back here in China for my season opener. It feels great to start the season with endurance and not go straight to the 1,500m. I chose to do the 5,000m just to see where my endurance is.”

Shifting to the longer events is not new to Kipyegon, who has in the last couple of years teased with the idea of moving on to the road.

Earlier in February, the five-time Diamond League champion made her 10km road race debut at the Monaco Run, winning in a time of 29:47.

Then, Kipyegon said the race was “a matter of learning to know how road racing works”, and it just seems now, that her idea of transitioning from the track is ever closer.

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Whether that decision comes during or after 2026 is a matter of time, with Kipyegon still expected to dominate this year.

“I am hoping for the best in the race,” Kipyegon said of her season-opener, scheduled for 1:37 pm EAT. “Running in a beautiful stadium like this gives you the morale that anything is possible. Because I am starting the season, I just want to see how the body responds for the rest of the season, and eventually the Diamond League finals.”

Among the notable names in the race will be the Ethiopian trio of Medina Eisa, Likina Amebaw and Senayet Getachew, and Kenya’s Maurine Jepkoech, and Caroline Nyaga.

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