Updated June 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM EDT
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon made a valiant attempt to shatter one of track and field's greatest milestones by becoming the first woman to run a mile in under 4 minutes. But the clock doesn't lie — and her time of 4:06.91, a personal best, came up short.
Even if she had succeeded, the 31-year-old Kipyegon's feat at the Stade Sébastien Charléty track in Paris wouldn't have been recorded in the record books. That's because the Nike-sponsored event is considered an exhibition, so she would not have been eligible for the record.
Supported by 13 pacers, including two women who stayed with her until the half way point and a five-man squad in front known as "the shield," Kipyegon's effort looked strong until the last half lap of the four-lap run.
When she crossed the finish line, Kipyegon collapsed face up as the pacers gathered around her as someone draped a Kenyan flag over her.
Speaking afterwards, she thanked the crowd and her supporters. Asked how she felt, she said, "Exhausted. I'm tired now, but I feel good. I've tried," she said.
"That is why I was coming here to, you know, try to be the first woman to run under four minutes. But I've proven that it's possible," she added. "It's only [of] matter time. I think it will come to our way. But if it's not me, it will be somebody else."
In announcing the event in April, Nike described the attempt as Kipyegon's "moonshot" and "a historic benchmark that was once considered an insurmountable limitation."
Speaking ahead of Kipyegon's run, Rodger Kram, an associate professor emeritus of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder, told NPR's Morning Edition that the key to success would be the use of pacers, just as they were for Roger Bannister's record-breaking mile in 1954.
Bannister, a Brit who was a medical student and amateur athlete at the time, ran with two pacers, drafting them for the first three and a half laps of his record-breaking mile. The pacers — or drafters — Kram explained, reduce air resistance, "pushing the air out of the way. ... at 15 miles an hour, which is what she's trying to run, it's substantial."
Kipyegon employed not only pacers but, according to Runner's World, custom spikes, "an innovative, first-of-its-kind speed suit, and a sports bra made of a revolutionary 3D-printed performance material."
Kipyegon won gold in the 1,500 meter during the 2024 Olympics — an event she had gold-medaled in twice previously, at the Tokyo and Rio Games. She also won silver in the 5,000 meter in 2024.
Bannister became the first person to break the 4-minute mark on May 6, 1954, at a track in Oxford, England, with a time of 3:59.4, according to Guinness World Records. He was later knighted for his feat. Bannister died in 2018.
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