Kenya’s peerless middle-distance runner Faith Kipyegon has underlined her status as one of the greatest athletes of all time by convincingly claiming a fourth 1,500 metres world title to go with her three Olympic golds and world record in the event.
Kipyegon delivered a gun-to-tape run on Tuesday and destroyed the field as she came home clear in 3 minutes 52.15 seconds.
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Fellow Kenyan Dorcus Ewoi ran a personal best 3:54.92 for silver while Jessica Hull won Australia’s first medal in the event when she just held on for bronze in 3:55.16.
Kipyegon now matches Hicham El Guerrouj (1997-2003) by claiming four world 1,500-metre golds, and she will also go for a second world 5,000-metre title later this week.
“Being able to defend my title and to win a fourth gold feels really special,” Kipyegon said.
“After setting the world record in Eugene [in July], I said to myself, ‘I have to go to Tokyo and defend my title.’ I knew I could run it under control.
“I won here in the 2021 Olympics just after becoming a mother, so being back here, winning again, means I can show a new gold medal to my daughter.”
4TH TIME 1500M WORLD CHAMPION 🥹💜🥰🇰🇪
This was my dream, another world title, continuing to make history.
I am so happy to have participated in #Tokyo2025, it’s bringing back so many memories from the #Olympics. The energy from the spectators and my fans is incredible! 💜💜💜 pic.twitter.com/6f8S2U6F1B
— Faith Kipyegon, EGH🇰🇪 (@Kipyegon_Faith) September 16, 2025
Kipyegon, 31, set her stall out from the start on Tuesday, setting an early pace that strung out the busier-than-usual field after extra athletes were reinstated following semifinal falls.
However, she seemed to ease off slightly on the third lap and Ewoi and Olympic silver medallist Hull, who has spent most of her career watching Kipyegon’s back disappear into the distance, were right on her shoulder at the bell.
There was nothing to worry about, however, as Kipyegon quickly took control again and by the time she crossed the line she was 30 metres clear.
Kipyegon will be back in the stadium on Thursday for the 5,000-metre heats, with the final on Saturday.
The diminutive all-time 1,500-metre great grew up in western Kenya’s Rift Valley, which is renowned as a breeding ground for runners.
The world record holder’s journey began in 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 primary school because in Kenya, schools are so far that you always end up running in order to reach them in time,” Kipyegon told Al Jazeera in 2023.
“I have loved [running] since I was a little girl, but I never thought I would become an Olympic champion one day,” she said.
It wasn’t until she turned 15 that the girl from a family of runners – her father was a 400-metre and 800-metre runner and her sister a 10-kilometre and half-marathon specialist – began training to become an athlete.
“I was in secondary school in 2009 when, by a stroke of luck, a coach saw me and introduced me to a runner’s lifestyle. He provided me with a proper diet and everything I needed to become a professional athlete.”
Among the long list of milestones in Kipyegon’s career, winning a second Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 after returning from a maternity break stands out as a testament to her tenacity and single-mindedness.
Kipyegon credits motherhood and her daughter Alyn with helping her stage a competitive comeback.
“It was not easy, as I could barely walk 20 minutes the first time I stepped back on the track,” she said in a social media video in 2022, as she reflected on the difficulties of returning to the track after having given birth.
“But the strength Alyn gives me has helped me overcome all challenges.”
Kipyegon is seen as a role model in Kenya, where she fondly known as the “Queen of 1,500 metres”.
