•Kipyegon, who holds world records in the women’s 1500m and the mile race, said she is glad to bring her season to a close with a bronze medal.
•The Kenyan track sensation said she would take a break to spend time with her family before she returns to limber up for the new season.
Image: XINHUA
Despite finishing third at the World Road Running Championships in Latvia over the weekend, multi-world champion Faith Kipyegon is grateful for her accomplishments this season.
Kipyegon, who holds world records in the women’s 1500m and the mile race, said she is glad to bring her season to a close with a bronze medal.
“After an incredible year with three world records and two world titles on the track, I’m proud to finish the season with another World Championships medal in my first road race ever,” Kipyegon remarked.
In Florence, Italy, she broke Genzebe Dibaba’s eight-year mark with a 3:49.11 time on June 2, becoming the first woman to run under three minutes, 50 seconds.
She went on to smash the 5,000-meter record at the Paris Diamond League meet by clocking 14:05.20 to edge out former world record-holder Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia.
After those amazing performances, she brought down the house at the Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships by sweeping two gold medals in the women’s 1500m and 5000m events.
The Kenyan track sensation said she would take a break to spend time with her family before she returns to limber up for the new season.
“2023, you were amazing, and now ...holiday and family time. See you all in 2024,” she said.
Kipyegon said she had learned invaluable lessons from the concluded season which she would leverage to steer herself to new heights.
“I am humbled. Every race presents a learning curve. This first road race has offered me an opportunity to calibrate and fine-tune for the next season,” she said.
The celebrated middle-distance sensation suffered her first defeat on Sunday after fizzling out to an unexpected third-place finish in Latvia, where she clocked 4:24:13 in the women’s Road Mile. Ethiopian Diribe Welteji ran away with the title with an impressive time of 4:21.00.
Sunday’s bronze capped off a stellar season in which she shattered three world records in Florence (1,500m), Paris (5,000m), and Monaco (mile). Kipyegon has promised to shatter her world titles at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The fleet-footed middle-distance track sensation pledged to gift the country more titles and honours in the coming months.
“The country should expect better things in the coming months. I still have the energy to deliver more surprises in the future,” Kipyegon remarked with a smile.
“By the time I’m running the Olympics next year, I will be ready to win the country more titles. Of course, I’m looking forward to better the two world records,” she said.