‘Battling Very Bad Injury’ - Faith Kipyegon Admits Pain is Far from Over After Monaco Defeat

Faith Kipyegon has shared details of her niggling injury that has been hampering her in recent weeks, forcing her to contend with rare defeats.

Kipyegon lost her second straight race on Friday, when she finished fourth in the 3,000m at the Monaco Diamond League, having run through the pain yet again.

This was after her loss in the one-mile race at Prefontaine Classic, the Eugene Diamond League last weekend, where she finished third.

In Monaco, Kipyegon clocked 8:24.21 for fourth place in a race won by fellow Kenyan Agnes Jebet Ng’etich, who clocked a world leading time of 8:08.95. Ngetich came close to breaking the world record of 8:06.11, setting the third fastest time over the distance behind Kipyegon's 8:07.04 as she finished 14 seconds ahead of the rest.

The three-time Olympics champion admits the injury is far from over and she is grateful that she still managed a decent race despite running in pain.

“I am just happy I could run again. Still, I am not feeling very healthy and am still battling a very bad injury, but I am glad I still managed to run,” Kipyegon stated after the race.

“Losing is not good, but again, it is important to accept it when you are not 100% healthy. You need 100% to compete with the best people in the world. So I am just so happy to finish this race. Now I have to go back home, get good treatment and see how it is going. I still have some competitions left.”

Kipyegon has been troubled by a hamstring injury, limiting her from going full throttle, with the cautious approach resulting in rare losses. It was the first time since 2016 that she had lost back-to-back races, since finishing second in Paris and seventh in Zurich in 1,500m in August and September 10 years ago.