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Faith Kipyegon has explained how excited she was after she was honoured by President William Ruto after an impressive season.

Kipyegon broke three world records and won two golds during the World Athletics Championship, and these propelled her to state recognition and an Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart honour during the Jamhuri Day celebration.

“Going back home after breaking world records and being recognised by the state, I really thank the government of Kenya for doing that because I think I was the first athlete to be recognised.

“I was not expecting to be welcomed back home as I was welcomed, and it really motivated me,” Kipyegon told World Athletics.

While Kipyegon started her 2023 season, she had one desire: to win a world title and have a complete resume. She managed to do it in very impressive form.

“I was working hard to get the world record over 1500m because I have history from the youth category to the senior category (in the discipline) with medals, but not a world record.

“If you do something and somebody is like: ‘She is world champion, she is Olympic champion, she is world junior champion… but… BUT!.. she doesn’t have a world record’.

“I wanted to remove this ‘but’; to have the world record in the 1500m and complete my historical journey in the 1500m. It’s something special,” she said.

When she won in Florence and Monaco during the respective Diamond League series, she dedicated her win to her fellow athletes and explained why she did so.

“For them to come along and celebrate with me in Monaco and Florence, it touched my heart – to know that besides what we do, we also have humanity and love.

“I am happy when we are all together, helping other women with passion to do something. You see Sifan Hassan and Gudaf Tsegay, who did 14:00 (to improve Kipyegon’s world 5000m record), which was really amazing. For us to come together and compete and break barriers,” she added.

Next for Kipyegon is a focus on the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.