(Kaptagat) The “main objective” of double Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon at the Paris Games will be to win a historic third title, she told AFP, saying she has not yet made a decision on his participation in the 5000 m.
Besides the 30-year-old Kenyan crowned in 2016 and 2021, only two athletes have won two Olympic gold medals in the 1500m, the British Sebastian Coe (1980, 1984) and the Soviet Tatyana Kazankina (1976, 1980).
“My main goal is to defend my 1500m title, becoming the first person to win three gold medals in the 1500m. I’m really looking forward. My head, my spirit, my preparation are all turned towards Paris,” said Faith Kipyegon in an interview with AFP at her training camp in Kaptagat, western Kenya.
“I said I wanted to leave a legacy. This is the legacy I’m talking about: winning three gold medals at the Olympics, getting gold medals at the World Championships and also the world record, which she broke last June in Florence (3: 4911), explains the athlete, three-time world champion in the discipline (2017, 2022, 2023).
If successful, “I will be able to say that I have accomplished everything […] before moving on to the longer distance,” estimates the woman who has also been running since 2023 over 5000 m, the distance over which she was crowned world champion in Budapest.
Faith Kipyegon, who has not yet started her season, says she has not yet decided whether to participate in the 5000m at the Games.
“I can’t say that I have yet thought about the 5000m, we still have to study that with my team and see what will be possible,” she explains.
His coach Patrick Sang indicated that “by mid-June, we should have a clear idea” of his program for the Games, depending in particular on the schedule of the Kenyan selections.
Kipyegon broke the 5000m world record last June (14:0520), which has since been shattered by the Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay (14:0021).