Faith Kipyegon ready to make history with sub-four minute mile effort
26 June 2025, 10:25 | Updated: 26 June 2025, 10:35
Faith Kipyegon has arrived in Paris as she prepares to take on Nike’s Breaking4 challenge and attempt to become the first woman to run a sub-four minute mile.
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The Kenyan, 31, is a three-time Olympic champion and world record holder over 1,500m (known as the metric mile) and has been training for the specially curated event on Thursday.
She is the world record holder for the women’s one mile but will need to shave more than seven seconds from her current personal best if she is to dip under the landmark barrier.
Kipyegon will benefit from Nike, her long-time sponsor, providing a specialist skinsuit and the latest generation of advanced running shoes.
In addition, she will be assisted by male pacemakers for the entire distance, which means that her time will be invalid for world record purposes. Nike has previously backed fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who became the first man to run a sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna in 2019.
Kipyegon has a current personal best of 4 minutes 07.69 but is confident that she can emulate Roger Bannister, who became the first man to break the four-minute mark in 1954.
“I have beautiful memories of Paris, breaking the world records… and now we are going for the special one,” she told the Olympics website.
“It’s not easy thinking that nobody has ever tried this, no woman has ever tried it… That’s the challenging part. You have to dream about, 'How will I cross the 800m mark? How will I cross that 1200m mark? How will I [bridge] the seven seconds?' Everybody is thinking about those seven seconds, but I just want to be myself and think positive.”
When is the sub-four minute mile being attempted?
Faith Kipyegon will go for the record in a special event at the Stade Charléty in Paris on Thursday, June 26.
The stadium is a happy hunting ground for the Kenyan and was the venue for her 1,500m world record last year.
Events get underway from 6pm BST and Kipyegon's run will be from 7pm BST.
How fast has Faith Kipyegon run before?
The Kenyan has run faster than any woman in history, setting the one-mile world record of 4minutes 07.64 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in 2023.
She will need to average 15mph (24km/h) for the four and a bit laps of the track, a feat she has achieved for the admittedly slightly shorter 1,500m; Kipyegon having run 16mph or 25km/h over that distance for her 3 minutes 49.04 world record in Paris in 2024.
The graphic (above) compares her current mile personal best (PB) to the intended pace.
Can Faith do it?
Seven seconds is a huge barrier in middle-distance terms and world records are usually only shaved by hundreds of a second at a time. But if anyone can do it, surely it's Kipyegon - an inspirational athlete who has only got faster since coming back from having a child.
Paris, where Kipyegon won her Olympic gold last year, is at a favourable altitude and time difference from Kenya.
As well as the super shoes and skinsuit, Kipyegon will benefit from pacemakers being able to judge themselves against Wavelight technology - meaning the athlete can just need and not think.
How to watch the Breaking4 attempt
A livestream broadcast is available on Nike’s YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Douyin accounts, as well as Prime Video from 6pm BST.
There are also tickets available for the full programme of events if you fancy a trip to Paris. If you haven’t already, you can book tickets on the Nike website.
Prime Video has already released Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile. A second part to the documentary will become available for viewing at an undisclosed time in July.
