Faith Kipyegon to tackle unusual distance in Xiamen season opener

Faith Kipyegon is exploring the possibility of running 10,000m this year. Image source: Imago

Faith Kipyegon to tackle unusual distance in Xiamen season opener

Abigael Wafula 17:05 - 13.02.2025

Faith Kipyegon will kick off her season in Xiamen by competing in an unconventional distance event.

Three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will contest a shorter distance at the Diamond League Meeting in Xiamen, China on April 20.

The race will be her season opener after a mixed 2024 season that saw her achieve some great milestones amid challenges.

She will launch her Diamond League final title defence bid with the 1000m race an unusual territory for her.

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Kipyegon will also be looking to attack Sandra Elkasevic's record and elevate to become the joint most successful female athlete in the history of the Diamond League.

She never fails to disappoint in the Diamond League Meetings and it’s safe to say the Kenyan distance sensation is a serial world record breaker.

Faith Kipyegon’s personal best in the 1000m is 2:29.15, an African record time she clocked at the Diamond League Meeting in Monaco in 2020. Her time is 0.2 seconds slower than the world record held by Svetlana Masterkova.

She joins fellow Olympic champions Letsile Tebogo and Yaroslava Mahuchikh in being headliners of the event.

Meanwhile, Faith Kipyegon was forced to postpone her 2024 season opener in Xiamen due to an injury setback and open it a bit later, at the Kenyan Olympic trials where she oozed class to win both the 1500m and the 5000m.

She then proceeded to the Diamond League Meeting in Paris where she lowered her 1500m world record time, clocking a stunning 3:49.04 to cross the finish line.

At the Paris Olympic Games, she claimed a silver medal in the 5000m after being shortly disqualified due to obstruction, forcing Athletics Kenya officials to appeal before her medal was reinstated.

Faith Kipyegon then made history, becoming the first woman to successfully win the 1500m Olympic title for the third time successively.

The double world champion won the Diamond League Meeting in Rome before claiming her fifth trophy at the Diamond League Meeting final in Brussels. She rounded up her 2024 season with a win at Alexis Ohanian’s women-only event, Athlos.