Athlete Faith Kipyegon capped off an impressive outing for Kenyan Athletics, breaking her own 1,500m World Record (WR) in a time of three minutes 48.68 seconds at the Eugene Diamond League meet on Saturday.
Olympic gold medallist Kipyegon re-entered the record books by breaking her own world 1500m record with 3:48.68*. Kipyegon set her previous world mark of 3:49.04 at the Paris Diamond League meeting last July.
In this year’s contest, Australian Jessica Hull was still just a stride or two behind Kipyegon going into the final lap, but the multiple world record-holder kicked hard on the back straight to break free.
There was no catching Kipyegon as she charged down the home straight, crossing the line in 3:48.68 to win by almost three seconds.
Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji ran a Personal Best (PB) of 3:51.44 to finish 2nd, while Jessica Hull ran a Season’s Best of 3:54.76 to finish 3rd.
The multiple world and Olympic champion had made history of sorts last week by producing the fastest mile performance in history, albeit in an unofficial and unratifiable exhibition event.
Today, however, there was no doubt over the authenticity of Kipyegon’s performance as she took 0.36 off the record she set in Paris last year.
It was a fitting finale to an exciting Diamond League meet, drawing the curtains at the Prefontaine Classic.