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≡ WOMEN’S 4:00 MILE? ≡
Kenyan star Faith Kipyegon has won three Olympic women’s 1,500 m golds in a row and in a dream sequence of 50 days in 2023, set world records in the 1,500 m (3:49.11), 5,000 m (14:05.20) and the mile, in 4:07.64 on 21 July at the Herculis meet in Monaco.
TSX speculated in a follow-up about the next question to be answered:
“Now, the discussion will inevitably turn to when a woman will break the 4:00 barrier for the mile. Looking at the men’s 4-minute mile, it took 21 years to go from New Zealand’s Jack Lovelock and his 4:07.6 mark in 1933 to 1954 for Roger Bannister (GBR) to run 3:59.4.
“That period was impacted by World War II, but Swedes Gunder Hagg and Arne Andersson did lower the mile record from 4:06.4 in 1937 to 4:01.4 in 1945.”
Applying the men’s experience – including the war – to the women and 21 years from 4:07.6 to 3:59.4 would take us from Kipyegon’s 2023 mark to sometime in 2044.
Nike doesn’t want to wait that long, announcing its “Breaking4″ attempt on Wednesday:
● “The longtime Nike athlete, already the world record holder in the mile, will attempt to become the first woman to break the 4-minute threshold in the distance, harnessing the full power of Nike to help make it happen.
“In the process, she’ll push the limits of sport beyond what’s long believed to be achievable, setting the stage for future generations to dream big.”
● “Kipyegon will make one attempt at the milestone on June 26 at the Stade Charléty in Paris, a time and location specifically selected to align with her training schedule and maximize her performance.”
● “Nike is obsessing every detail, spanning footwear, apparel, aerodynamics, physiology and mind science to enhance Kipyegon’s performance, underscoring the brand’s holistic approach and fundamental belief in pushing the limits of human potential.”
The Nike statement noted that 34 years was required for Kipyegon to run eight seconds faster than Paula Ivan (ROU) and her 4:15.61 in 1989:
● 4:15.61, Paula Ivan (ROU), 1989
● 4:12.56, Svetlana Masterkova (RUS), 1996
● 4:12.33, Sifan Hassan (NED), 2019
● 4:07.64, Faith Kipyegon (KEN), 2023
● Kipyegon splits: 62.6 (400 m), then 62.0, 62.2, 59.5, and 1.3 to 1,609 m
As audacious as this appears, this is hardly new territory for Nike, which teamed with men’s marathon world-record holder Eliud Kipchoge to create a time trial event (not eligible for world-record status) – the Ineos 1:59 Challenge – in which he ran the first sub-2:00 marathon, in 1:59:41 on a specially-adapted course in Vienna (AUT) on 12 October 2019.
That was the second try at a sub-2:00, after Kipchoge and Nike teamed for a 2:00:25 time trial in Monza (ITA) on 6 May 2017.
In each case, special conditions were installed to support Kipchoge, including a diamond-shaped set of pacemakers to remove wind hindrance, pace car, special nutritional support and for the 1:59:41 effort in 2019, Kipchoge used a prototype of Nike’s Air Zoom Alphafly Next% shoe.
However, Kipyegon’s attempt will be much harder:
● In 2019, Kipchoge was trying to break 2:00, compared to his then-world record of 2:01:39 from 2018. That required a 1.37% improvement in his world record to get to 1:59:59; he ran an aided-1:59:41 for a 1.62% improvement.
● Kipyegon will be trying to reduce her own mile world mark from 4:07.64 to 3:59.99, or a 3.09% improvement on her Monaco mile record.
Wow.
The 26 June race is not part of any existing track & field meet; the Diamond League’s Meeting de Paris in 2025 will be on 20 June, also at the Stade de Charlety, and no further details have been announced.
Kipyegon will already have the advantage of pacing lights on the track, now a standard part of Diamond League meets, and Nike will no doubt have many more ideas on how to squeeze some more time off.
Kipyegon has not run anywhere since winning the Athlos NYC 1,500 m on 26 September, and as defending World Champion in the women’s 1,500 m, she has a direct entry into the World Athletics Championships for 2025 in Tokyo in September and does not have to worry about qualifying. She plans to open her season in the women’s 1,000 m in the Diamond League Xiamen (CHN) meet on Saturday.
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