Breaking 4: Faith Kipyegon Attempts the 4-Minute Mile

Image Credits: Nike Running | Nike Images | The three-time Olympic champion attempts to be the first women to break the 4 minuet mile |

On Thursday the 26th of June, the Kenyan Olympic middle distance runner Faith Kipyegon attempted to be the first woman to break the four minute mile. The 31-year-old Kenyan wasn’t able to break the four-minute mile barrier, running an impressive 4:06.42 which would have broken her previous world record time of 4:07.64. Unfortunately, this will not be recognised as an official record as Kipyegon was aided by 13 pacemakers, including Britain's Georgia Bell and Jemma Reekie. Kipyegon completed the third lap in 3:01.84 (BBC Sport) in a good time of achieving the sub four-minutes, however over the last 400m her hopes of breaking the 4 minute mile faded

Additionally, this event was sponsored by Nike providing an aerodynamic skin suit fitted with ‘aernodes’ - 3D printed bumps that lined her arms and leg sleeves and a headband all of which reduced the wind resistance and drags as she ran. Furthermore, she wore specially designed spikes - based on the Nike Victory 2 spikes which she won the Olympic gold in last summer, weighing just 85 grams (BBC News) allowing her to attempt running a sub-60 second 400m lap - an average speed of 15 mph. Although Kipyegon narrowly missed the target, she has paved the future for women’s sport setting up the stage for what could soon become a historic moment in sport.