Faith Kipyegon is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 meters.
She was born on January 10, 1994, and grew up on a farm in the Kenyan Rift Valley as the eighth of nine children.
Her father, Samuel Koech, was a 400 m and 800 m runner in his youth, and her elder sister and former training partner, Beatrice Mutai, is a 10 km and half marathon specialist.
Faith was a soccer player until she was introduced to athletics at school aged 14, and she lined up for a one-kilometer run in PE class and won that race by 20 meters.
She has achieved numerous accomplishments in her running career, and is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion with the Games record and a two-time world champion in the 1500 meters.
Faith is the only woman to win four global 1500 m titles and only the second woman to claim consecutive Olympic titles in the event.
In August 2023, she ran the fastest women’s mile in history, breaking her third world record in the last two months with a time of 4 minutes, 7.64 seconds.
She is widely regarded as one of the greatest 1500m runners.
Faith Kipyegon to receive Ksh19.9 million at the World Athletics Championships pic.twitter.com/mGqBBYlZqH
— Kenyans.co.ke (@Kenyans) August 27, 2023
Faith Kipyegon husband
Faith is married to Timothy Kitum.
The couple have a daughter named Alyn, who was born in June 2018.
Timothy and Faith have been recognized for their achievements in athletics, with Kipyegon winning multiple global titles.
Faith Kipyegon career
Faith was born on January 10, 1994, in the Kenyan Rift Valley, where she grew up on a farm as the eighth of nine children.
Interestingly, she was a soccer player until she was introduced to athletics at school aged 14.
Faith won the 1500 meters at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Moncton, Canada.
She also won the 800 meters at the 2011 African Junior Championships in Athletics in Gaborone, Botswana.
In 2012, Faith won the 1500 meters at the World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona, Spain.
She made her senior debut at the 2012 London Olympics, where she failed to qualify for the semifinals of the 1500 meters.
Faith improved her performance at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, where she finished fifth in the final.
She won her first major title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, beating Laura Muir of Great Britain.
In 2016, Faith won the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the Rio Olympics, setting a new national record of 3:56.41.
She won the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the 2017 World Championships in London.
In 2019, Faith won the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the World Championships in Doha, and won the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
She is the only woman to win four global 1500 m titles and only the second woman to claim consecutive Olympic titles in the event.
Faith broke the world record in the 1500 meters at the Florence Diamond League on June 2, 2022, with a time of 3:49:11.
She broke the world record in the 5000 meters at the Paris Diamond League on June 4, 2023, with a time of 14:05:20.
Faith is one of the greatest athletes of her generation and has inspired many people with her achievements.
Faith Kipyegon – the undisputed queen of distance running 🙌
A battle to the line, another gold for the Kenyan great.#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/idqqlE88CT
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 26, 2023
