Track queen Faith Kipyegon marks road racing debut with victory in Monaco
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 15.02.26. | 15:45
Her performance in unfamiliar territory comes off a 2025 track season that was nothing short of historic moments
Multiple Olympics and world champion Faith Kipyegon made her 10km road race debut at the Monaco Run on Sunday, 15 February, winning in a time of 29:47.
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This victory follows a historic 2025 track season, and opens her 2026 one with a race marking a significant transition to road competition for the triple Olympic champion under coach Patrick Sang, widely known for nurturing distance runners.
She opened the race with a 3:05 kilometer, controlling the pace to cross the halfway point in 14:59.
She held her position to go through the 7km mark in 21 minutes before slowing slightly to relinquish her pole position.
However, she recovered in no time and surged for a negative split (14:48) for victory, finishing just over a minute slower than the current World Record held by compatriot and world cross country champion Agnes Ngetich.
She finished more than four minutes ahead of Jordan Lee Maddie (34:23) and Augustine Emeraux (34:49) who were second and third respectively.
The men's race was won by Kenya's Benard Soi in 29:48.
Her performance in unfamiliar territory comes off a 2025 track season that was nothing short of historic.
Kipyegon broke her own 1500m world record with a 3:48.68 at the Prefontaine Classic - becoming the first woman under 3:49.
She won her fourth world title at the World Championships, a record for any woman in a distance event.
What's more, she ran 4:06.42 in Nike's Breaking4 project in Paris, the fastest mile any woman has ever run.
It remains to be seen whether Kipyegon will follow in the footsteps of her mentor and training mate Eliud Kipchoge.