Faith Kipyegon announces plan to permanently move away from 1500m races
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 30.09.25. | 15:16
With her sights now set on distance races, Kipyegon has openly acknowledged that she dreams of one day conquering the marathon, just as her training partner Eliud Kipchoge did
Five-time world champion Faith Kipyegon has stated her intention to shift permanently to longer distances. This audacious move will mark the beginning of a new chapter in her illustrious athletic career.
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Kipyegon, who is widely regarded as the greatest 1500m runner of all time, said she will gradually move away from her traditional distance as she prepares to embrace the challenge of the 5000m and eventually, the marathon.
“I like challenging myself, and this coming season, I want to challenge myself by going for longer races. This is the way to go because I have to do longer races so that I get used to it.
I will not stay at 1500m for long, and I will soon move permanently to the longer distances,” Kipyegon told Telecomasia.net.
The mother of one has been untouchable over the 1500m race for nearly a decade, boasting three Olympic titles, four world crowns, and an unbeaten record in the distance stretching back four years.
Her gold medal at the Tokyo World Championships saw her equal Moroccan legend Hicham El Guerrouj as the only athlete to claim four world titles over the distance.
But even at the peak of her supremacy, Kipyegon has already started testing herself beyond her comfort zone.
She has twice won silver in the 5000m; at both the Olympics and World Championships, each time finishing behind her close friend and compatriot Beatrice Chebet, who recently completed a golden double in the 5000m and 10,000m.
Kipyegon’s 2025 season has been nothing short of historic.
Her campaign began in late April at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, where she clocked 2:29.21 over 1000m, narrowly missing the world record but registering the third-fastest time in history.
In June, she produced a sensational 4:06.42 mile in an exhibition event, the fastest performance ever recorded over the distance.
The climax came in Eugene, where she lowered her own 1500m world record to 3:48.68.
She nearly added another milestone in August when she attacked the 3000m world record in Silesia.
Though she fell short by less than a second, her 8:06.9 performance made her the only woman to finish within seconds of Wang Junxia’s long-standing mark of 8:06.11 from 1993.
She then graced the World Championships, where she walked away with gold in the 1,500m and silver in the 5,000m.
With her sights now set on distance races, Kipyegon has openly acknowledged that she dreams of one day conquering the marathon, just as her training partner Eliud Kipchoge did.
She believes her path lies in a gradual build-up through 5000m and 10,000m races before making the final leap.
“I am happy to say that I am progressing well so far, and the future is bright for me. Next season, for sure, I will try to challenge myself more and just go out there and extend the boundaries to see what happens,” she offered.
