What Faith Kipyegon told her daughter after tussle with Gudaf Tsegay at Olympics
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Reading Time: 3min | Wed. 30.10.24. | 21:30
Kipyegon recently opened up on the drama, noting that her daughter was curious why she did not win gold in the discipline
The women’s 5,000m Olympic final was shrouded in controversy as silver medalist Faith Kipyegon was disqualified for jostling with Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay before having her silver medal reinstated.
The pair of runners were involved in an ugly mid-race moment. The two were seen pushing and shoving at the front of the pack.
Footage shows that Kipyegon appeared to pull at the arm of Tsegay, who responded angrily by fending off the Kenyan.
Post-race, officials initially took a dim view of Kipyegon and stripped her of her second-place finish. However, Kipyegon’s silver medal was later reinstated following a successful appeal.
Kipyegon recently opened up on the drama, noting that her daughter was curious why she did not win gold in the discipline.
She noted that it was hard to find the right words when Alyn, who typically sees her mother as an unstoppable champion, asked, “Mom, why were you in position two this time?”
“In Paris, she knows what it’s like when I win, but she also knows what it’s like when I lose. After the 5,000m in Paris, she called me and asked what happened. It’s very difficult to explain to a child what happened in a race while still being a role model to her,” she shared.
Now, as a mother, her approach to her athletic career has taken on new depths and purpose. Unlike the early days of her career when she competed solely for personal goals, Kipyegon now runs with the mission of inspiring her daughter and other young girls who look up to her.
“Motherhood gives me life as a runner. I’ve gotten extra energy from being a mother to Alyn. She sees how committed I am, and how hard I work. During the season, she understands that I go to training camp from Monday to Saturday, and then I go back home, only to spend one day with her.
It’s not easy, but she understands the sacrifices I’m making. She motivates me to work as hard as I can,” she offered.
“I talk to my daughter before every race. She normally says the same thing to me: She wishes me all the best, and she asks me to bring chocolate back home — and the gold medal,” Kipyegon said.
By the end of 2017, Kipyegon was an athlete in her prime, en route to becoming one of the tracks’ all-time greats. The then-young girl was the reigning 1500m Olympic champion, 1500m World Champion, and Diamond League champion in her favourite 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.
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.
This year, she made more history by becoming the first woman to win a threepeat 1,500m Olympic medal.
“Motherhood can affect how you see your running career. My approach to Rio, Tokyo, and Paris were all different. My first gold medal was in Rio, I was 22, so young. I was still running for myself.
In Tokyo, I had my daughter around me, but she was only three years old, and she couldn’t fully understand what I was doing. She was watching me and going, ‘Mommy’s running,’ not, ‘Mommy’s running for a gold medal,” she concluded.
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