Kipyegon turns into the primary athlete to win three consecutive 1500m gold medals and units a brand new Olympic file.
Kenya’s Religion Kipyegon made historical past by changing into the primary lady to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals within the 1,500 metres with an outstanding show of middle-distance working.
The 2016 and 2020 champion, 30, produced a tactical masterpiece on the Stade de France on Saturday to take gold in a brand new Olympic file of three minutes 51.29 seconds.
Australia’s Jessica Hull took silver in 3:52.56, whereas Britain’s Georgia Bell took bronze in 3:52.61.
It was one other outstanding efficiency from Kipyegon, the reigning world champion who can now declare to be the best feminine middle-distance runner in historical past.
Kipyegon had bided his time early within the race, permitting Gudaf Tsegay to set the tempo earlier than pulling alongside the Ethiopian simply after the primary lap.
Tsegay continued to steer on the bell, however shortly misplaced velocity and fell again as Kipyegon accelerated into first place.
With 200 metres to go, Kipyegon kicked in the direction of the road and though Hull and Bell gave chase, they by no means appeared to search out the velocity to catch the Kenyan as she raced in the direction of the road for her unprecedented Olympic 1,500m treble.
The Kenyan additionally has three gold medals over the identical distance on the World Athletics Championships, the final of which can happen in Budapest in 2023.
ALL. THE. FEELINGS.
third Olympic gold in 1500m for Religion Kipyegon of 🇰🇪 😤
Nobody in historical past has ever gained 3 1500m medals on the Olympics, not to mention 3 golds 🤯#Paris2024 #Olympics picture.twitter.com/z0nQl3lIQt
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 10, 2024
‘I’ve come a great distance’
In her house nation, Kipyegon is called the “Queen of the 1,500 meters.”
In an interview early final 12 months, Kipyegon advised Al Jazeera that she has cherished working since she was 5 years outdated and needs to encourage extra women to take up the game.
The diminutive, all-time main 1,500-meter runner grew up within the Rift Valley in western Kenya, often called a breeding floor for runners.
The world file holder’s journey started within the shifting, muddy, dusty and mountainous terrain of Ndababit village, 233 kilometres (144 miles) west of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
“I used to run barefoot from my village to main faculty as a result of in Kenya colleges are so far-off that you just at all times find yourself working to get there on time,” Kipyegon advised Al Jazeera forward of the Diamond League occasion in Doha.
“I’ve cherished [running] “Since I used to be a bit woman, I by no means thought I might sooner or later develop into an Olympic champion,” she stated, laughing.
Amongst Kipyegon’s lengthy checklist of profession milestones, profitable a second Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 after getting back from a maternity break stands out as a testomony to her tenacity and dedication.
Kipyegon credit motherhood and her daughter Alyn for serving to her make a aggressive comeback.
“It wasn’t simple as I might barely stroll for 20 minutes the primary time I acquired again on monitor,” she stated in a video on social media in 2022, as she mirrored on the difficulties of returning to the monitor after giving beginning.
“However the power that Alyn provides me has helped me overcome each problem.”
