Another golden chapter: Faith Kipyegon on record-defining 2025

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya reacts after winning the Women's 1500m and sets a new world record during the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field on July 5, 2025 [AFP] In 2025, three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon could not pause the writing of her athletics history. During the busy year, Kipyegon - a five-time world champion wrote another chapter of her beautiful story, punctuating it with spectacular victories and attempts. As she reflects on 2025, Kipyegon says the highs were more than the low moments. And as 2026 draws nearer, Kipyegon's dreams remain gigantic. From smashing her own 1,500m world record in Eugene in July to defending her world title in Tokyo in September and bagging silver in 5,000m, Kipyegon's wall cabinet got even richer in 2025. "This year was full of highs. The highest moment was defending my world title in Tokyo, which is my specialty. Am so happy that the 2025 season went well and I hope 2026 will be another beautiful year," says Kipyegon. At the Eugene Diamond League in July, just before she broke her own 1,500m world record, expectations were high on her, but Kipyegon didn't disappoint. She cruised to a 3:48.68 to shave more than a third of a second off her previous world record, set at the 2024 Diamond League meeting in Paris. It was the fifth time that Kipyegon had broken a world record at a Diamond League meeting in three years, and the third season in a row. But the fifth world title, according to Kipyegon, was the highlight of 2025. This festive season, she says, she is balancing family time and training as she gets ready for 2026. "We hope for the best and we are going back to training. We have just started and let's see what next year will offer," Kipyegon says as Christmas Day approaches. One race is on her mind in 2026. She has set her sights on the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship which will be staged at Budapest's National Athletics Centre for three days from September 11-13, 2026. It will be a biennial event that will ensure one pinnacle of athletics events annually as action will be oscillating between the World Athletics Championships and the new Ultimate showpiece. "There is the Ultimate Championship which we are all targeting next year. It is the new event by World Athletics, and that is where all our focus is and the Diamond League," Kipyegon says. The Ultimate Championship will be a biennial event that will be taking place a year after every World Championships. Some 28 track and field events have been lined up and 360 star athletes will be eying victories and rich prize money in the inaugural championship which will be staged in the Hungarian capital that hosted the 2023 World Athletics Championships. According to the global athletics body, 26 athletes have already automatically qualified as reigning individual Olympic champions. Kenyan stars; Olympic champions Faith Kipyegon, Beatrice Chebet and Emmanuel Wanyonyi have already qualified for the ultimate contest. Kipyegon says she is preparing herself for the Ultimate Championship and the 2026 Diamond League. "When the New Year begins, I will know my schedule for 2026. We are still enjoying the festive season with family even as I continue with training," says Kipyegon. However, she is not sure whether she will commence her road racing chapter in 2026, but insists that 1500m remains her favorite event. On what made 2025 an exciting year for her, apart from the record and the world title defence, Kipyegon says: "I'm so happy to see athletes training as they chase their dreams." Kipyegon had a dream of becoming the first woman to run the Mile under four minutes in June but missed the target. After the June 26 attempt dubbed Breaking4, she earned praise for her effort to try to run sub-four minutes in the Mile. Although she missed the under-four-minute mark by 6.41 seconds during the Nike Breaking4, the athletics world still celebrated the star for daring to attempt what has for decades been perceived to be impossible, and for chipping a second off her 4:07.64 World Record from 2023. "I trained with the mud track at the University of Eldoret when I was preparing for Breaking 4. There was no track but the track helped me and has helped so many international athletes coming all the way from Iten just to train," she says in her reflection. She challenges the government to hasten the completion of sporting facilities to give young talents an opportunity to realize their athletics potential. "Seeing our local athletes training without the modern facilities because the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret is closed makes me happy," she says. She goes ahead to say: "But I urge the government to fast-track the completion of stadiums and to help universities get modern training facilities so that they help athletes from communities within the regions they are based in."

Another golden chapter: Faith Kipyegon on record-defining 2025

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Another golden chapter: Faith Kipyegon on record-defining 2025

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