Two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya won her second 1500m title at the World Athletics Championship on Tuesday to hand the country its first gold at the competition.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon competes in the women’s 1500m final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on July 18, 2022./Jewel Samad | AFP
Faith Kipyegon of Team Kenya cross the line to win the Women’s 1500m Final on day four of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 18, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon./Patrick Smith | AFP
Kipyegon, who previously won world gold over the distance in 2017 along with two silvers from 2015 and 2019, dominated the race from start to finish, clocking a winning time of 3min 52.96sec.
“I am so glad to have reclaimed the title today because I really had to work hard for it. The competition was tight, but i had prepared well for the battle,” Kipyegon said after her win.
She lost the world title to Dutch Sifan Hassan during the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships.
She has since then only lost once to Hassan at the Diamond League meeting in Florence last year.
Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha (left), Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon (centre) and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay compete in the women’s 1500m final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on July 18, 2022./Jewel Samad | AFP
Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia claimed silver in 3:54.52, with Britain’s Laura Muir taking bronze (3:55.28).
Patrick Smith | AFP
Andy Lyons | AFP
African Champion Winny Chebet settled for 13th position after clocking 4:15.13.
Kipyegon started her season with a second place finish in the 3,000m during the Doha Diamond League series where she said that she was using the event for build up and endurance.
Victory in Oregon made it a fourth global outdoor championships gold.
She is the only Kenyan woman to have won the world title in the metric mile race and the second Kenyan to have won the Olympic title besides Jebet Lagat in 2008 Beijing.
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