‘I Went Through A Lot’ - Faith Kipyegon Fights Back Tears As She Slams Government Over Failed Sub-4 Mile Attempt

Faith Kipyegon has hit out at the government for not helping her course when she tried to become the first woman to run a mile under four minutes.

Multiple world and Olympics champion Faith Kipyegon has slammed the government for contributing to her failed attempt to run a mile under four minutes.

Kipyegon attempted to become the first woman to run a mile under four minutes in an event dubbed Breaking4 in Paris, France on June 26 but fell short, having managed 4:06.91.

She, however, made up for it by breaking her own 1,500m world record a week later, when she clocked 3:48.68 at the Prefontaine Classic, the Eugene Diamond League last week.

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On her return home, Kipyegon vented her frustration at the government for not helping her course due to the unavailability of proper training facilities, saying she had to seek permission from learning institutions in Eldoret to be allowed to train for her Breaking4 attempt.

Faith Kipyegon Unimpressed By Lack of Facilities

“My only request, and the CS knows about it, and I will still talk about it since even when I was preparing to go and be the first woman to break the 4, I went through a lot,” Kipyegon told Sports CS Salim Mvurya.

“Especially on preparation, where to prepare, to go to the track where to train. I want to thank the School of Law in Eldoret, University of Eldoret where I was training,” she added as she fought back tears.

Kipyegon feels she would have perhaps achieved her target had she had access to a proper training facility and now wants the government to speed up the completion of Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret, whose renovation has stalled.

Slow Renovation of Kipchoge Keino Stadium Slammed

“If it was not about the two facilities, I wouldn’t even try [Breaking4]. I tried my best to be the best in the world with those two facilities. I was so disappointed that Kipchoge Stadium was closed when I was going to try to be the first woman to break the record,” she added.

“Sometimes, I feel so emotional to talk about it. This is not something someone like me should be talking about because those elite athletes all over the world have perfect facilities to train on.

“That is why we have high profile competitors because if you have good tracks and facilities to train, you can still perform even better than we do. This is not just for us but for the younger athletes to get better facilities to train.”

Kipyegon’s sentiments were echoed by Olympics 5,000m and 10,000m champion Beatrice Chebet, who also set a world record in Eugene, having become the first woman to run a sub-14-minute 5,000m race by clocking 13:58.06.