Faith Kipyegon Provides Worrying Health Update as Athletics Season Enters Homestretch

Multiple Olympics and world champion Faith Kipyegon is not out of the woods yet as far as her injury is concerned.

Kipyegon has been dealing with a niggling hamstring problem for a couple of months and any hopes of an immediate comeback has been ruled out.

The three-time Olympics gold medalist has not run competitively since finishing fourth in the 3,000m at the Monaco Diamond League on July 10, having run through the pain, coming six days after she had lost the one-mile race at Prefontaine Classic, the Eugene Diamond League, where she finished third.

Any hopes of a return to competition soon is, however, off the table for the 32-year-old who has revealed that her injury still needs time to recover.

“As athletes, we ask a lot from our bodies. There is always a thin line between being fit and the risk of injury,” Kipyegon posted on Instagram.

“Since the end of May, I have been dealing with a hamstring injury and unfortunately, it needs a bit longer to recover than I had hoped. I know that taking care of it now is the most important thing I can do to come back at my best.

“So for now, I will take the time to heal, recover and get stronger. I’ll be back,” she added.

Kipyegon’s hamstring injury has limited 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.

With no definite date over when she will be ready, Kipyegon faces the prospect of missing the rest of the Diamond League season and she might not also be available for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships from September 11-13, where winners in each discipline will take home a cool $150,000 (Ksh19.4 million).

There is also the possibility of missing ATHLOS, a lucrative women’s-only track event where each winner walks away with $60,000 (Ksh7.7 million). The 2026 ATHLOS event will be held in two cities; in London on September 18 and New York on October 2.

Kipyegon is among the star names who have graced the ATHLOS event since its inaugural edition in 2024.