Faith Kipyegon remains convinced that a woman will break the four-minute mile barrier within 10 years, despite falling more than six seconds short in her record attempt in Paris.
It was a disappointing result for Kipyegon and her sponsorsNike, who had hoped that aerodynamic skinsuits, lighter super spikes and a team of 13 pacers would help the 31-year-old Kenyan get within touching distance of the famous mark.
But speaking to the Guardian on the morning after running 4min 06.22sec in Paris, Kipyegon insisted she was still proud to have rolled the dice – and to have run a mile quicker than any woman in history. She also predicted that new technology was coming that would also help Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson break the women’s 800m world record of 1min 53.28sec, which has stood since 1983.
“Absolutely there will be a woman running a mile in under four minutes,” she said. “And I think it will take less than 10 years. And if it doesn’t come my way, it will be someone else doing it.”
Asked why she was so confident, given the gap was still more than six seconds, she replied: “Going forward, the technology will be even higher than what I was using yesterday. So I think one day, one time, it will happen.”
Kipyegon admitted that she had struggled in the final 200m, having heard the bell in 3:01. But she insisted she would not have changed anything about her attempt.
“Birds sometimes fall but they fly again,” she said. “I believe I will still lower the world record of 4.07. I want to get it very close to the four minutes mark. And I believe I can still run under 4.05 in a race with female pacemakers.”
Kipyegon’s next race will be over 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, next week, and she insists she is in shape to challenge her world record of 3:49.04. However she said there are no plans yet to have another crack at the four-minute mile barrier.
In Paris she spoke to Hodgkinson, who told her she is hungry to go faster in the future once she has recovered from a hamstring injury. “I talked with Keely yesterday about everything,” said Kipyegon. “And my run was a huge inspiration for her. She’s hungry to go under 1.54 in the 800m. And I think Keely Hodgkinson one day, one time, will run under 1.53. She is so fast.”
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Nike’s chief innovation officer, Tony Bignell, who has worked with the company since helping design spikes for Michael Johnson at the Atlanta and Sydney Games, promised that there would be more innovation and attempts at breaking records. “Yes, I’ve seen things in the lab, and I’ve put things on my foot where I’ve thought: ‘I’ve never felt that before,’” said Bignell. “And that’s coming.
“Last night could have been anywhere on a scale of zero to 10, but we took the risk. And taking risks is a good thing.”