Science, athletics and marketing collide as Faith Kipyegon seeks historic sub-four-minute mile

RTÉ News​

8 hours ago

Faith Kipyegon will attempt to become the first woman in history to run a sub-four-minute mile on Saturday next, 26 June at the Stade Charléty, Paris.
Kipyegon set a mile world record of 4:07.64 in 2023 and won her third Olympic title over 1500 metres in Paris last year. She will need to run almost two seconds per lap quicker than her world record pace to break four minutes.
The sub-four-mile is considered one of the last great frontiers in women's distance running. Nike, who sponsor Kipyegon, have dubbed the attempt a "moonshot".
A near-impossible goal that, if pulled off, will dramatically raise the ceiling that confines human limits. It's the same ceiling that Roger Bannister elevated 71 years ago when he became the first human to break the four-minute mile.
Nike have developed a new salvo of cutting-edge technology that aims to close the huge 7.65-second gap that stands between Kipyegon and history.
"I've been the best miler on the track, the fastest 1,000 metres, the fastest 1,500… We decided it's high time to think about empowering girls and inspiring the next generation in pushing barriers," Kipyegon said in an interview with training partner Eliud Kipchoge.
In 2019, Kipchoge became the first athlete to run a sub-two-hour marathon. It wasn't just an extraordinary athletic performance, but also a multi-million-dollar science exhibition bankrolled by Nike.
For his 1:59.40 marathon in Vienna, Kipchoge had a specially engineered aerodynamic kit as well as a pair of ultra-lightweight 'super shoes' that provided unparalleled energy return compared to footwear of the past.
Kipchoge ran on a custom-made course, drafting behind a rotating cast of elite athletes, and tracking a moving 'wave light' that was calibrated to the exact pace he required.
For Kipyegon, Nike intends to pull out all the stops again.
The Kenyan will don the 'Nike Fly Suit', a newly-developed speed suit that's complemented with a matching headband, leg and arm sleeves.
The Fly Suit is made of a slick, stretchy material (that's yet to be named) and is dotted with a goosebump-like finish.
These goosebumps are 'aeronodes', minuscule half-spheres on the skin of the suit designed to negate wind resistance and create small eddies behind Kipyegon.
As she cuts through the air at a speed of 24 kilometres per hour, the aeronodes are made to keep her "slippery" in the wind and minimise drag.
"It became clear how much faster Faith could potentially run if the suit had certain physical features beyond the slickness of its material," said Lisa Gibson, Nike's project manager for apparel innovation.
There will also be a new 3D-printed sports bra, composed of TPU and designed to be more supportive, lightweight and breathable than market competitors.
Kipyegon will wear a reimagined version of the Nike Victory 2, the track spikes she wore breaking the mile world record in Monaco, which are now 25% lighter and tailormade for her diminutive 1.57m, 42kg frame.
Nike scientists have signalled they intend to tinker with the spikes' design up to a week before the attempt.
World Athletics requires a lengthy window to inspect new prototype shoes to confirm they adhere to existing regulations; hence, Kipyegon's finishing time will not be recorded in official record books.
Kipchoge's sub-two-hour marathon is similarly not an official world record due to the rotating ensemble of pacers (World Athletics regulations require pacers to start the race, and don't permit pacers joining during the event).
The question of pacing and drafting, possibly the largest area of optimisation for Kipyegon, has yet to be answered by Nike.
Kipyegon recorded uneven lap times and failed to draft effectively behind the designated pacers when she ran to the world record in Monaco. She raced the last 700 metres solo.
In February, researchers in the Royal Society Open Science Journal posited that Kipyegon could run a 3:59.37 mile with optimal pacing.
The researchers proposed sandwiching Kipyegon between a duo of female pacers, who would then swap out with another duo at the halfway mark.
Wouter Hoogkamer, a professor of Kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts, co-authored the paper.
He explained the first pacer would take the brunt of the wind, while the second, behind Kipyegon, would help negate low-pressure airfields with a dragging effect.
"If you have another runner behind [Kipyegon], then this low-pressure area is going to be behind the second area and not behind the dedicated runner," Hoogkamer said.
"A lot of aerodynamic cars and the aerodynamic bike helmets, they have that point towards the end, and that is to reduce the effect of the low-pressure field. It will make the air flow along the point of the helmet, rather than just behind the runner."
Kipyegon still faces steep odds in tackling the four-minute mile, regardless of novel pacing arrangements and technical innovation.
She has only raced once this year, coming painstakingly close to the 1000m world record with a 2:29.22 time in Xiamen, China. The 31-year-old would need to run at a quicker pace for another 609 metres to dip under four minutes.
Kipyegon's glittering career has been built on an extraordinary aerobic engine rather than a scintillating turn of speed. Her 800-metre personal best stands at 1:57.68, while most sub-four male athletes can run an 800m in the 1:52 region.
Even if the perfect conditions are created to run sub-four, her limited leg speed may prove debilitating.
"We can run the simulations and calculate how much faster she can run, but can her legs actually move that quickly?" said Hoogkamer.
"The drafting, the shoes, all of them might make it energetically easier for her to run that fast, but does she have enough fast-twitch muscles to contract at that high rate with those forces that quickly?
"That's the cool thing about a science experiment like this…we kind of know what we know from testing things, but she is unique in many aspects."