Kipyegon Fails to Achieve Sub 4-Minute Mile

Kenya’s serial World Record breaker Faith Kipyegon on Thursday failed in her bid to become the first woman in history to run a mile in under four minutes.

The 31 year old Kipyegon, clocked four minutes 06-point 42 seconds in perfect conditions at Stade Charlety in Paris running at the Breaking4 event.

The time will not be recognised as an official record because Kipyegon was assisted by a team of male and female, totalling pacemakers and wore technologically advanced kit and shoes.

The time was 1-point 22 seconds faster than her world record of 4 minutes-zero 7-point 64 seconds set in 2023, nearly five seconds faster than any other female athlete in history has run for the distance.

Kipyegon was kitted out in an aerodynamic skin-suit and specially designed spikes as she targeted sub-60 second laps – an average speed of about 15 miles or 24 kilometres, per hour.

More than 70 years have passed since Britain’s Sir Roger Bannister became the first man to beat the four-minute barrier for the mile.

That came in May 1954 and was a sporting frontier compared at the time to being “as elusive and seemingly unattainable as Everest”.