Nine days after Faith Kipyegon failed in a heroic attempt to become the first woman to run a four-minute mile in Paris, she has returned to winning ways at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon.

The three-time Olympic 1500m champion surged to a new 1500m world record in front of a sell-out crowd at Hayward Field.

She clocked 3 minutes, 48.68 seconds to break the 1500m world record for a third consecutive year.

Speaking to Wanda Diamond League reporters after the race on Sunday, July 6, 2025, Kipyegon noted that her failed attempt to break the four-minute barrier, or at least run faster than her official mile world record of 4:07.64, fueled her to shatter the world record in Oregon.

Despite covering one mile in 4:06.42, the multiple record holder told reporters that the race prepared her psychologically for the Prefontaine Classic.

She described her win as expected, maintaining that she had even predicted it.

“This is the time I was expecting. When I was in Paris I said it is still possible to run under 3;49 and I am so grateful. I thank God, I thank my management, and I thank all the support systems,” Faith Kipyegon told Wanda Diamond League reporters.

“I was preparing for something special to run under four minutes in the mile and I think I pushed myself towards getting better and better in 1500, so I knew it was possible to run under 3:49,” she added.

“I talked about it last week, and here I am breaking the world record,” Faith reiterated.

Consistency

Faith Kipyegon attributed her recent record-breaking to consistency and acknowledged her coach for playing an instrumental role in her athletic career.

With the win in Oregon, the record holder disclosed that she had set her target for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

“I try to be consistent and follow what my coach is telling me to do- be better in every race. I am the right direction to Tokyo this year,” Kipyegon stated.

How she won

Kipyegon ran the last 400m in 59.1 as she took victory in 3:48.68, 0.36 inside her mark from last July’s Paris Diamond League.

Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji took second in 3:51.44 with Hull coming home third in 3:52.67.

This was the third time Kipyegon set a new world record over 1500m, having first broken it in Florence in 2023. A week after her Italian exploits, she broke the 5000m world record, which now belongs to Beatrice Chebet.