Less than two weeks after falling short of becoming the first woman to record a sub-four-minute mile, Kenyan Faith Kepyegon broke her own world record in the women’s 1,500-meter run on Saturday with a time of 3:48.68 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.
That time was 0.36 seconds better than her previous record-setting mark of 3:49.04 recorded in July 2024.
What’s more, Kepyegon was not the lone Kenyan to set a world record on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Beatrice Chebet won the 5,000 ahead of former record-holder Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, clocking in with a time of 13:58.06 to become the first woman to finish the distance in less than 14 minutes. Tsegay finished third, behind Chebet and Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich.
Tsegay set the previous best time of 14:00.21 in September 2023, also at Hayward Field in Eugene. With her Saturday finish, Chebet now owns five of the 10 best times ever recorded in the women’s 5,000.
–Field Level Media
