Faith Kipyegon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Faith Kipyegon

Kipyegon at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London
Personal information
Full name	Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon
Born	(1994-01-10) 10 January 1994 (age 31) Bomet, Rift Valley Province, Kenya
Height	1.57 m
Weight	42 kg
Sport
Country	Kenya
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	1500 metres
Coached by	Patrick Sang (2017–) Bram Som (2015–2017)
Achievements and titles
World finals	1500 m 2013 Moscow, 5th 2015 Beijing, 2 Silver 2017 London, 1 Gold 2019 Doha, 2 Silver 2022 Oregon, 1 Gold 2023 Budapest, 1 Gold 5000 m 2023 Budapest, 1 Gold
Olympic finals	1500 m 2012 London, h (16th) 2016 Rio, 1 Gold 2020 Tokyo, 1 Gold 2024 Paris, 1 Gold 5000 m 2024 Paris, 2 Silver
Highest world ranking	1st (1500 m, 2023)
Personal best(s)	800 m: 1:57.68 (Doha 2020) 1000 m: 2:29.15 AR (Monaco 2020) 1500 m: 3:49.04 WR (Paris 2024) One mile: 4:07.64 WR (Monaco 2023) 5000 m: 14:05.20 (Paris 2023)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Kenya Olympic Games Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro 1500 m Gold 2020 Tokyo 1500 m Gold 2024 Paris 1500 m Silver 2024 Paris 5000 m World Championships Gold 2017 London 1500 m Gold 2022 Eugene 1500 m Gold 2023 Budapest 1500 m Gold 2023 Budapest 5000 m Silver 2015 Beijing 1500 m Silver 2019 Doha 1500 m World Relays Gold 2014 Nassau 4x1500 m Diamond League 2017 1500 m 2021 1500 m 2022 1500 m 2023 1500 m 2024 1500 m Commonwealth Games Gold 2014 Glasgow 1500 m World Junior Championships Gold 2012 Barcelona 1500 m World Youth Championships Gold 2011 Villeneuve-d'Ascq 1500 m World Cross Country Championships Gold 2010 Bydgoszcz Junior team Gold 2011 Punta Umbria Junior race Gold 2013 Bydgoszcz Junior race Gold 2013 Bydgoszcz Junior team Gold 2017 Kampala Senior team Silver 2011 Punta Umbria Junior team World Road Running Championships Bronze 2023 Riga 1 mile African Cross Country Championships Gold 2012 Cape Town Junior race Gold 2014 Kampala Senior race Gold 2014 Kampala Senior team

Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (born January 10, 1994) is an amazing runner from Kenya. She is known for her incredible speed in middle-distance and long-distance races. Faith holds the world records for the 1500 metres and the mile. She also used to hold the world record for the 5000 metres.

Faith Kipyegon is the only athlete to win three gold medals in the 1500m race at the Olympics. She won at the 2016 Rio Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and 2024 Paris Olympics. She also has many gold medals from the World Athletics Championships. These include the 1500m in 2017, 2022, and 2023, and the 5000m in 2023.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Faith made history. She became the first person to win three 1500m Olympic gold medals in a row. She also set a new Olympic record in that race. Earlier in the 2024 Paris Olympics, she won a silver medal in the 5000m race.

People sometimes call Faith Kipyegon the "smiling destroyer." This is because she often smiles before her races, but then she runs incredibly fast and wins!

When she was younger, Faith won gold medals at the World Cross Country Championships in 2011 and 2013. She also won the 1500m at the World Youth Championships in 2011 and the World Junior Championships in 2012. Faith is one of only a few athletes to win world championships at youth, junior, and senior levels.

In 2017, New African magazine named Faith Kipyegon one of the Top 100 most influential Africans. In November 2024, the University of Eldoret gave her an honorary doctorate degree. This was to celebrate her amazing achievements as a world and Olympic champion.

Faith Kipyegon's Early Life

Faith Kipyegon grew up on a farm in a village near Keringet, Nakuru County, Kenya. She was the eighth of nine children. Her family belongs to the Kalenjin tribe.

Her older sister, Beatrice Mutai, is also a runner. She specializes in 10 km and half marathon races. Faith's father, Samuel Kipyegon Koech, used to run 400m and 800m when he was young. Her mother, Linah Koech, also had some experience with athletics.

Faith loved playing soccer until she was 14. That's when she discovered athletics in school. She ran a one-kilometer race in physical education class and won by a lot! She went to Winners Girls High School in Keringet.

Family Life and Training

Faith Kipyegon is married to Timothy Kitum, who won a bronze medal in the 800m at the 2012 Olympics. They have a daughter named Alyn, who was born in June 2018.

Faith trains in Kaptagat (and Kapsabet) with her coach, Patrick Sang. Patrick Sang is a famous coach who also trains Eliud Kipchoge, a world record holder in the marathon. Faith started training with Patrick Sang at the end of 2017.

Faith's Junior Running Career

In 2010, when Faith was just 16, she ran in her first international race. It was the World Cross Country Championships in Poland. She ran barefoot and finished fourth in the junior race. Her team won the gold medal. Later that year, she showed how good she was at track races. She finished third in the 1500m at the Kenyan World Junior Championship Trials.

Kipyegon at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona.

In 2011, Faith ran barefoot again and won the gold medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Spain. Her team also won a silver medal. A few months later, she won the 1500m at the World Youth Championships in France. She set a new championship record with her time of 4:09.48.

Her 2012 season started very well. She set a fast national junior record in the 1500m, running 4:03.82 at a race in Shanghai. In June, she won the 1500m at the Kenyan Junior Athletics Championships. She also finished third at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, which meant she could go to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. At the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, she won gold again in the 1500m. She set another championship record with a time of 4:04.96. At the London Olympics in August, she didn't make it to the semi-finals, but it was still a great experience for a young athlete.

In 2013, Faith won her junior title again at the World Cross Country Championships. In May, she ran the 1500m in under 4 minutes for the first time! She set a new African U20 and Kenyan senior record of 3:56.98. Faith finished second in that race. In August, she came in fifth place at the World Championships in Moscow.

Faith's Senior Running Career

2014: Commonwealth Champion

In March 2014, Faith won the senior women's race at the African Cross Country Championships in Uganda. She beat the second-place runner by more than eight seconds. In May, she was part of a team that won a gold medal in a relay race. They set a new world record of 16:33.58.

That same year in July, Faith won her first big 1500m race as a senior athlete. She became the champion at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

Faith Kipyegon (L) collecting her first individual senior global medal, a silver for the 1500 m, at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

2015: World Championship Silver

On August 25, Faith won a silver medal in the 1500m at the World Championships in Beijing. She finished second behind Genzebe Dibaba.

In September, she won her first Diamond League race, which was a mile race in Brussels. She set a new African record of 4:16.71.

2016: First Olympic Gold in Rio

Faith started her Olympic year strong. In May, she won the 1500m at a Diamond League race in Shanghai. She improved her own Kenyan record to 3:56.82. Two weeks later, she broke her national record again in Oregon, running 3:56.41. She also won a mile race in Oslo in June.

Kipyegon celebrates her first Olympic 1500 m victory in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Then, at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Faith became the 1500m champion! She ran past Genzebe Dibaba in the last 200m of the race. Faith finished with a time of 4:08.92.

2017: First Senior World Title

Faith won her first Diamond League 1500m title in 2017. She won three races in Shanghai, Eugene, and Brussels.

At the 2017 World Championships in London, Kipyegon (L in red) won her first senior world title.

Her biggest success that year was winning the World Championships in London. She became the first Kenyan woman to win the 1500m world title. She was also only the third woman ever to win both the Olympic and World Championship finals in this race. Faith ran 4:02.59. She said this win was "sweeter" because she had to fight harder against many strong runners.

After this, Faith decided to start a family.

2018–2020: Motherhood and Comeback

Faith trained for a few months while she was pregnant. She gave birth to her daughter, Alyn, in June 2018. Faith took a break from running for about 18 months. She returned to training in January 2019.

In the 1500 m final at the 2019 Doha World Championships, Faith (L in red) won silver after becoming a mom.

Six months after her daughter was born, Faith made an amazing comeback. She won her first race back in Eugene with a time of 3:59:04.

Faith then won a silver medal at the World Championships in Doha. She ran even faster than her previous Kenyan record, finishing in 3:54.22.

In 2020, Faith won all six of her races in the Diamond League and Continental Tour. In August, she ran the second-fastest 1000m race ever in Monaco. Her time was 2:29.15, which was very close to the world record.

2021: Second Olympic Gold in Tokyo

In 2021, Faith continued to improve her Kenyan national record. In June, she ran 3:53.91 in Rome. In July, she ran an even faster 3:51.07 in Monaco. This was the fourth-fastest time in history for a woman at that point.

In the 1500m final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), Faith won her second Olympic gold medal in a row! She passed Sifan Hassan in the last 200m. Faith set a new Olympic record with her time of 3:53.11. She became the second woman ever to win back-to-back Olympic 1500m titles.

In September, she won her second 1500m Diamond League title in Zürich. Faith won nine out of ten races that season.

2022: Second Senior World Title

In May 2022, Faith started her season by running the 3000m in Doha, finishing second. She then won her main event, the 1500m, at the Eugene Diamond League with a time of 3:52.59.

Kipyegon with her record fourth global 1500 m gold medal at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.

At the World Championships in Eugene in July, Faith won the 1500m gold medal. Her time was 3:52.96. This made her the first female athlete to win four world titles in this distance.

In August, at the Monaco Diamond League, Faith ran 3:50.37. This was very close to the world record and set a new Kenyan record for her. She finished her successful season by winning her third Diamond League 1500m title in Zürich. Faith won all six of her 1500m races that season.

In November, Faith mentioned in an interview that she would like to run marathons in the future.

2023: World Records in 1500m, Mile, and 5000m

Faith started 2023 with a strong win at a cross country race in Kenya.

On June 2, she achieved something amazing: she set a new world record in the 1500m! She ran 3:49.11, becoming the first woman ever to run the 1500m in under 3 minutes and 50 seconds. She broke the old record by almost a second.

Just seven days later, on June 9, Faith broke another world record! This time it was in the 5000 metres race. This was a big surprise because it was only her third time running this distance. She ran 14:05.20, breaking the old record by over a second. She became only the second woman in history to hold both the 1500m and 5000m world records at the same time.

Faith's 5000m world record was later broken by another runner in September 2023.

On July 21, 2023, Faith broke her third world record of the year! She ran the mile in 4:07.64 in Monaco. She broke the previous record by a lot.

At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Faith won both the 1500m and 5000m races. This was an incredible achievement!

2024: New 1500m World Record and Olympic Medals

In June 2024, Faith won both the 1500m and 5000m races at the Kenyan Olympic Trials.

On July 7, 2024, Faith broke her own 1500m world record again at a race in Paris. She ran 3:49.04, making it even faster!

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Faith first won a silver medal in the women's 5000m. She then went on to win gold in the 1500m, breaking her own Olympic record with a time of 3:51.29. This made her the first athlete to win three Olympic gold medals in the 1500m.

On September 14, 2024, Faith won the 1500m at the 2024 Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium. She set a new meeting record with her time of 3:54.75.

On September 26, 2024, she won the first-ever Athlos event. This was an all-woman track and field meeting in New York City.

Faith Kipyegon's Achievements

All information taken from World Athletics profile.

Personal Best Times

International Competitions (Medals)

Representing  Kenya

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Result	Notes
2010	World Cross Country Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	4th	Junior Cross Country	19:02
			1st	Junior team	10 pts
2011	World Cross Country Championships	Punta Umbria, Spain	1st	Junior Cross Country	18:53
			2nd	Junior team	19 pts
	World Youth Championships	Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France	1st	1500 m	4:09.48	Championship Record
2012	African Cross Country Championships	Cape Town, South Africa	1st	Junior Cross Country	19:32
	World Junior Championships	Barcelona, Spain	1st	1500 m	4:04.96	Championship Record
	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	16th (heat)	1500 m	4:08.78
2013	World Cross Country Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	1st	Junior Cross Country	17:51
			1st	Junior team	14 pts
	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	5th	1500 m	4:05.08
2014	African Cross Country Championships	Kampala, Uganda	1st	Senior Cross Country	25:33.02
			1st	Senior team	10 pts
	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	1st	4 × 1500 m relay	16:33.58	World Record
	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	1st	1500 m	4:08.94
	African Championships	Marrakesh, Morocco	5th	1500 m	4:13.46
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	2nd	1500 m	4:08.96
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	1st	1500 m	4:08.92
2017	World Cross Country Championships	Kampala, Uganda	6th	Senior Cross Country	32:49
			1st	Senior team	10 pts
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	1st	1500 m	4:02.59
2019	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	2nd	1500 m	3:54.22	Kenyan Record
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	1st	1500 m	3:53.11	Olympic Record
2022	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	1st	1500 m	3:52.96
2023	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	1500 m	3:54.87
			1st	5000 m	14:53.88
2024	Olympic Games	Paris, France	1st	1500 m	3:51.29	Olympic Record
			2nd	5000 m	14:29.60

Circuit Wins and Titles

• Diamond League 1500 metres champion (3): 2017, 2021, 2022
• Faith has won many Diamond League races in the 1500m, mile, 1000m, and 800m. She often sets new records!
• She also won the Sirikwa Cross Country Classic in 2022–23.

National Titles

• Kenyan Cross Country Championships
  • Senior women's race: 2014, 2015

Awards and Honours

• Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year – Sportswoman of the Year: 2021, 2022
• World Athletics – World Athlete of the Year: 2023
• Nominee for Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year: 2024
• Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement: 2024 – given by President William Ruto

Images for kids

• 

  Faith Kipyegon (left) racing in the 1500m final at the 2019 World Championships.

• 

  Faith Kipyegon (center) on the podium after winning silver at the 2019 World Championships.