How Faith Kipyegon Plans To Emulate Eliud Kipchoge
While specifics haven’t dropped yet, the attempt will likely mirror Kipchoge’s 2019 run in Vienna
Marvin Chege 
Three-time Olympic and world 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon is gearing up to chase the first-ever unofficial sub-four-minute mile by a woman, as part of Nike’s “Breaking 4” project — inspired by Eliud Kipchoge’s legendary sub-2-hour marathon.
Nike announced that the 31-year-old will take on the challenge on June 26, 2025, at Stade Charlety in Paris, France — the same track where she smashed her own 1500m world record last year.
While specifics haven’t dropped yet, the attempt will likely mirror Kipchoge’s 2019 run in Vienna, meaning she’ll have rotating pacers, cutting-edge gear, and all kinds of tech, science, and mental support. Because of that, the performance won’t count as an official record.
Kipyegon holds the official mile world record at 4:07.64, a time she set in 2023, shaving nearly five seconds off Sifan Hassan’s 2019 record. Hitting the sub-four mark would however require a massive jump in performance.
Faith Kipyegon celebrates after winning the women's 1500m race at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on August 10, 2024. /FAITH KIPYEGON
"I’m a three-time Olympic champion. I’ve achieved World Championship titles. I thought, What else, why not dream outside the box?" Kipyegon said. "I want this attempt to say to women, 'You can dream and make your dreams valid'."
Kipyegon clinched Olympic gold in the 1,500m at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Games, and claimed world titles in 2017, 2022, and 2023 — the same year she also bagged gold in the 5,000m.
On top of holding the mile world record, she also owns the 1,500m world record with a blazing 3:49.04. And impressively, she made that comeback look effortless after stepping away from the sport to have a baby.
"Becoming a mother has changed my entire mental attitude," she said. "You have to engage yourself, you have to show your child the way."
Nike’s bringing everything they learned from Kipchoge’s sub-two marathon runs — first the near miss, then the historic success — into Kipyegon’s sub-four mile attempt.
Expect the return of carbon-plated “super shoes,” rotating pacers running in a V-formation to keep the pace hot and consistent, cutting-edge gear, and tech like laser-guided pacing lights — all of which helped Kipchoge and will likely be used again.
Nike says more details, like who’s pacing, what gear she’ll wear, and how the stadium will be set up, are coming soon.
Kipyegon and Kipchoge go way back — over a decade — and they’re both coached by Patrick Sang. "Faith can absorb any goal, she is a big dreamer," Kipchoge said, adding, "She is the woman to take on this challenge because she is open to trying."
To shave at least 7.65 seconds off her current mile record, Kipyegon will have to run each of the four-plus laps almost two seconds quicker on average than she did in her record-setting performance.
"Faith is a once-in-a-generation talent, and her audacious goal is exactly what Nike stands for,” said Elliott Hill, Nike President & CEO.
"Breaking4 is the kind of bold dream we will do everything in our power to make real — helping both elite and everyday athletes to believe anything is possible. Alongside Faith, our innovators are breaking barriers by combining cutting-edge sports science with revolutionary footwear and apparel innovation to help her achieve a truly historic goal."
Britain’s Roger Bannister made history as the first man to run a sub-four-minute mile in May 1954, while fellow Brit Diane Leather became the first woman to break five minutes just weeks later. The men’s mile record still stands at 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999.
Sifan Hassan’s 4:12.33 in 2019 barely surpassed the long-standing record of Russian runner Svetlana Masterkova, which had held strong for 23 years.
