Kipyegon turns into the primary athlete ever to win three back-to-back 1500m gold medals and units new Olympic file time.
Kenya’s Religion Kipyegon made historical past after changing into the primary lady to win three consecutive Olympic 1,500-metre gold medals with an outstanding show of middle-distance operating.
The 30-year-old 2016 and 2020 champion produced a tactical masterpiece on the Stade de France on Saturday to take gold in a brand new Olympic file of 3min 51.29sec.
Australia’s Jessica Hull took silver in 3:52.56 whereas the UK’s Georgia Bell claimed bronze in 3:52.61.
It was one other exceptional efficiency by Kipyegon, the reigning world champion who can now arguably lay declare to being the best girls’s middle-distance runner in historical past.
Kipyegon had bided her time early within the race, permitting Gudaf Tsegay to set the tempo earlier than shifting up onto the Ethiopian’s shoulder simply after the primary lap.
Tsegay continued to guide on the bell however light rapidly and dropped again as Kipyegon accelerated into first place.
With 200 metres to go, Kipyegon kicked for house and although Hull and Bell pursued they by no means appeared favored discovering the pace essential to catch the Kenyan as she scampered throughout the road to clinch her unprecedented Olympic 1,500-metre treble.
The Kenyan additionally holds three gold medals for a similar distance on the World Athletics championships, the newest coming at Budapest in 2023.
ALL. THE. FEELS.
third Olympic 1500m gold for 🇰🇪’s Religion Kipyegon 😤
Nobody in historical past has gained 3 1500m medals on the Olympics, not to mention 3 golds 🤯#Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/z0nQl3lIQt
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 10, 2024
‘I’ve come very far’
In her house nation, Kipyegon is called the “Queen of 1,500 metres”.
In an interview earlier final 12 months, Kipyegon informed Al Jazeera that she has beloved operating for the reason that age of 5 and he or she desires to encourage extra younger ladies to take up the game.
The diminutive all-time 1,500-metre nice grew up in western Kenya’s Rift Valley, which is famend as a breeding floor for runners.
The world file holder’s journey started within the ever-changing muddy, dusty and hilly terrain of Ndababit village, 233km (144 miles) west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
“I used to run barefoot from my village to the first faculty as a result of in Kenya, faculties are to date that you simply all the time find yourself operating with the intention to attain them in time,” Kipyegon informed Al Jazeera earlier than the Diamond League event in Doha.
“I’ve beloved [running] since I used to be slightly woman, however I by no means thought I’d change into an Olympic champion in the future,” she stated with a chuckle.
Among the many lengthy checklist of milestones in Kipyegon’s profession, profitable a second Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 after coming back from a maternity break stands out as a testomony to her tenacity and single-mindedness.
Kipyegon credit motherhood and her daughter Alyn with serving to her stage a aggressive comeback.
“It was not straightforward as I may barely stroll 20 minutes the primary time I stepped again on the monitor,” she stated in a social media video in 2022, as she mirrored on the difficulties of returning to the monitor after having given beginning.
“However the energy Alyn offers me has helped me overcome all challenges.”
