Faith Kipyegon shares motherhood experiences

Motherhood can be a transformative journey, redefining priorities and passions. This shift frequently marks a turning point for athletes, who may fully embrace motherhood's blessings or rekindle their inner fire and push boundaries.

Some might hang up their jerseys in honor of the treasured times spent with their families, while some find inspiration in juggling parenthood and their athletic ability. This usually motivates them to reenter the arena with even more vigor.

A good example of this is two-time world 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon. Rather than letting motherhood dim her sparkle, Kipyegon bounced back stronger, fiercer, and more competitive.

In an exclusive with World Athletics, the Stargirl noted that her daughter Alyn Jepkorir has been her driving force.

By the end of 2017, Faith Kipyegon was an athlete in her prime, en route to becoming one of the tracks’ all-time greats. The then 23-year-old girl was the reigning 1500m Olympic champion, 1500m World Athletics Champion, and Diamond League champion in her favorite 1500m race.

It was at that point she decided to start a family, bringing a charming Alyn to the world in June 2018.

In June of 2019, 12 months after giving birth, Kipyegon made her racing comeback, surprising everyone by winning the 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic in Palo Alto, California, in 3:59:04.

Later that year, she lowered her Kenyan record to 3:54.22 and won silver at the IAAF 2019 World Championships.

Since then, Kipyegon has been virtually unbeatable. In 2020, she went unbeaten in six races and ran the second-fastest time ever in the 1,000m in August of 2020.

She would later smash the Kenyan 1500-meter record in Monaco in July 2021, clocking 3:51.07, and weeks later she powered away from the world’s best in Tokyo to retain her Olympic title in the 1500 meters.

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In 50 days alone, Kipyegon shocked the world by shattering the women’s 1,500m world record at the Florence Diamond League on June 2 and following it up with a 5,000m world record in the Paris leg on June 9. She also broke a women’s mile at the Monaco Diamond League on July 21.

The 29-year-old brings her daughter Alyn to public places, including her invitation to State House after winning the 5000m in Paris, France.

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The two seem like the perfect mother-daughter goals. Kipyegon admitted that early motherhood taught her invaluable lessons. She noted that her daughter was the driving force behind her triumphs.

“When I see her, I run very fast because I know I’m motivating the young generation and I want her to learn that her mother is a professional athlete and I want her to learn a lot,” she started.

“Motherhood has put me on another level and I think I have been strong-minded since I gave birth to my daughter, Alyn. She has been an inspiration to me and I think I’m flying,” she continued.

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‘Mama Alyn’ further explained that her initial days into motherhood were not a walk in the park. She opened up on how she gained over 10 kilograms after giving birth which forced her to go back to intense training to regain her running shape.

“It was not easy…when you are used to being 44kgs and then after maternity leave you are 63kgs and you have to cut and come back to running. It makes you have two different thoughts - am I coming back strong or this is the end of my career? But for me, I took it positively and just trained and just worked hard because my team was believing in me that I would be back stronger,” she explained.

She was however glad that her daughter was following in her steps, hoping that she would break records in the future as well.

“She is still young but she likes running around the house and when I’m doing some photoshoots, she likes joining me and enjoying herself,” she concluded.

With this being an Olympic year, there is shared optimism that the Stargirl will bring the country more medals.