Latest news with #StadeCharléty
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Faith Kipyegon falls short in bid to run sub-4-minute mile
When Olympic gold medalist Faith Kipyegon crossed the finish line after four laps at the Stade Charléty in Paris, she had trimmed more than a full second off her world record mile time, though she came several seconds short in her hunt to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes. She ran it in 4 minutes 6.42 seconds at the closed-course event Thursday, besting the previous world record, which she set two years ago.
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Faith not enough as Kipyegon misses four-minute mile barrier by six seconds
Faith Kipyegon's dream of following in Sir Roger Bannister's long footsteps by becoming the first woman to shatter the four-minute barrier for the mile ended with her body soaked in lactic acid and defiance. And, crucially, with the stadium clock at Stade Charléty more than six seconds away from where she had hoped it would be. The 31-year-old Kenyan arrived in Paris stacked with the latest weapons in track and field's technological arms race. But having reached the bell in 3mins 1sec, just about on schedule, she found that physiology began to overpower technology. There was a consolation of sorts as she finished in 4:06.42 – 1.22 faster than her world record. The new time will not count as she was being paced by men, which is against World Athletics rules. 'This was the first trial,' she said. 'We are learning many lessons from this race. I will go back to the drawing board to get it right. And I think there is more in the tank.' Before the race Kipyegon's 13 pacemakers were introduced to the crowd – 11 men and two women. They included several Olympians, the indoor 5,000m world record-holder in the American Grant Fisher, and three Britons, Elliot Giles, Georgia Hunter Bell and Jemma Reekie. Then it was Kipyegon's turn, tiny at 5ft 2in, dressed all in black. There was a wave to the crowd, a short sprint to whirr the legs up to full speed. Then they were off, ready to tackle the 1,609 metres in front of them. It was Giles who led the way, but to the untrained eye it looked as if he went off a little too fast as it took a while to settle into formation: six athletes in a line in front of Kipyegon, one alongside her, and six behind her. The idea was to allow her to draft and reduce wind resistance. For a while, her supporters in the Stade Charléty dared to dream. Kipyegon went through the first lap in 1:00.20 and hit 800m in 2:00.75. She still looked to be going strong as she heard the bell in 3:01.84, but then the pain and lactic began to rip through her, and she could run the last lap only in a shade under 65 seconds. The trackside wave lights, which she had used in many of her world records, had been set to get her across the finish line in 3:59.99. This time, though, they kept running further away from her. 'I gave everything,' she said. 'But I think the wave lights gave everything today too. But maybe next time I can catch up with them.' Few outside Kipyegon's camp had expected her to emulate Bannister's epic 1954 feat. But Nike's executives insisted privately that there was cause for optimism that she could get close. Part of that came from Kipyegon being armed with the latest super shoes, which were lighter at 90g and more propulsive than her previous spikes. On the insoles were written two words: 'fastest known'. The Kenyan was also wearing a special skinsuit, designed to help her be more aerodynamic. And she had the team of pacers to help her cut through the air quicker. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion For months an elaborate pacing and drafting strategy was practised in Nike's headquarters in Oregon and, more recently, in Paris with Britain's Hunter Bell acting as Kipyegon. In tests, one Nike athlete had been able to run a mile 3% quicker using such strategy, compared with a test run using normal equipment and with no pacers a fortnight earlier. That gave executives confidence that Kipyegon could go close. Beforehand they walked around with 'I've got Faith' T-shirts, with the company's logo replacing the apostrophe. But faith, it turned out, was not enough. So where does that leave us? The detractors will say it was marketing hype from the beginning. But that isn't fair. This was a genuine attempt to go where no women had gone before, and Kipyegon should be lauded for rolling the dice and giving it a shot. At the press conference, she was lauded by one influencer for shifting the narrative. But her face showed that she had wanted more. 'It was not easy but I wanted to prove to the world that everything is possible in life if you dare to try. I am hoping one day, one time, it will come my way.' You could only admire her resolve. But finding those seven seconds will not be easy.
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Faith Kipyegon fails to become first woman to break four-minute mile
An unofficial world record, just, but immortality of the sort bestowed on Roger Bannister can wait. Exactly 71 years after Bannister became the first man to run a mile under four minutes, the Kenyan great Faith Kipyegon has failed in an audacious attempt to become the first woman to emulate that feat. Despite a 13-strong team of pacemakers, which included the British athletes Georgia Hunter-Bell, Jemma Reekie and Elliott Giles, Kipyegon faded notably over the final lap of her attempt to finish in 4min 6.42sec. That was still more than some 1.22sec faster than her official women's world record but well short of an audacious target that poses a major question: If Kipyegon, perhaps the greatest female middle-distance runner cannot do it even with the might of Nike's multi-million innovation department behind her, could any woman? In fairness, the odds were always stacked against her. She would have needed to take almost eight seconds off a world record that was itself five seconds better than anyone had managed before. And, in the breeze of the Stade Stade Charléty in Paris, reality struck and the difference did indeed prove insurmountable. She had begun well enough. An opening 400m of 60.20sec was pretty much exactly what she wanted and, while she did broadly hang onto that pace to reach 1,000m in 2min 30.68sec, the sight of her steadily dropping into the group of slower pacemakers told its own story. Some may primarily see this as a giant advert for Nike and, while that part of the equation was undoubtedly fulfilled, there was much that could be taken from an occasion attended by much of the great and good of athletics, including Carl Lewis, Keely Hodgkinson and Eliud Kipchoge. Hodgkinson said that it would 'inspire' people from all over the world and, for a sport trying desperately to remain visible to a younger generation of sports fans, it was an occasion that would certainly have appealed beyond a core audience. Kipyegon's run was also mightily impressive by any normal parameters. It was a regulation track with bespoke spikes and clothing which conformed to World Athletics rules. The use of male pace-makers was the one element that prevented this being official. Like Kipchoge, who failed with his first attempt at a sub two hour marathon with pacemakers, it may also serve as a catalyst for further attempts. A paper written by a group of sports scientists who had been working with Kipyegon, largely from the University of Exeter, urged caution in a paper published last month. 'With additional specialisation in middle-distance running events, further under-standing of the physiological underpinnings of successful middle-distance running performances, and optimisation of the physiology and training of the current world's best 1,500 mrunners, we contend that a woman may break the 4-min mile barrier within the next decade,' they wrote. On this evidence, that remains optimistic.
Al Arabiya
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Faith Kipyegon Will Try to Become the First Woman to Break the 4-Minute Mile in Paris
Triple Olympic gold medalist Faith Kipyegon will try to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes later Thursday in Paris. Kipyegon, a three-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion from Kenya, is already the world-record holder in the mile and 1,500. She will need to shave at least 7.65 seconds off her world record time of 4:07.64. It was more than 71 years ago when British runner Roger Bannister became the first man to eclipse four minutes in 3:59.4. 'I want this attempt to say to women 'You can dream and make your dreams valid,'' she said. 'This is the way to go as women, to push boundaries and dream big.' Kipyegon set the women's mile world record nearly two years ago during a Diamond League meet in Monaco. To improve it, Kipyegon will need to run each of her four laps an average of about two seconds faster. The 31-year-old athlete won her third straight 1,500 Olympic title in Paris last August. A month before that, she broke her own 1,500 record on the same track where she will run on Thursday at Stade Charléty. She will be wearing the latest innovations from Nike, from her aerodynamic track suit to her spikes. It's unclear how many pacemakers will accompany Kipyegon during the Nike-sponsored event dubbed 'Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile.'
Forbes
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Nike Reveals Tech For Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 Effort
Prototyping shoes for Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 effort sometimes happened right on site of ... More training. Three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon has a singular focus with her new Nike-backed goal: Be the first woman to break the four-minute barrier in the mile run. Nike's research and development team is hoping to make that happen. The attempt comes June 26 at Stade Charléty in Paris, with every element of aerodynamics, apparel, footwear technology and race conditions designed to help the Kenyan shave at least 7.65 seconds off her 2023 world record time of 4:07.64. 'We had to learn specifically what requirements were needed for the four-minute mile and the requirements for Faith to achieve it,' Brett Kirby, principal scientist of applied performance innovation at Nike, tells me. 'This is the recipe we have today.' The new system of dress for Faith Kipyegon aims to reduce drag. That recipe includes entirely customized footwear—the Nike Victory Elite FK—and apparel for Kipyegon in the carefully selected Paris location. While Kipyegon set the world record in her Nike Air Victory 2 spike, Carrie Dimoff, Nike's footwear innovation lead on the project, tells me they wanted to work one-to-one to create a personalized spike for a specific athlete and distance. Building from scratch—and not for a larger audience—allowed the team to bring in an ultra-lightweight yarn for the upper, a lighter carbon fiber outsole plate with six 3D-printed titanium pins and a fresh approach to underfoot energy return. Dimoff says the biggest opportunity—along with minimizing weight by using the most premium of materials—was maximizing energy return. That's why the forefoot Zoom Air unit is three millimeters taller than on the Victory 2 spike. 'We are able to return over 90% of energy and force back to her,' Dimoff says about the air unit. 'We were able to apply a lot of creativity.' 3D-printed aeronodes on the suit help create eddies of air to smooth the air close to a runner's ... More body. The footwear process started by examining a wealth of materials and ideas from other shoes. Kipyegon first tested concepts at the Nike research lab in Oregon and the team then sent her home with prototypes. Using laboratory testing and field testing with Kipyegon in Kenya, the team settled on a spike that increases energy return and reduces weight, often tweaking protypes while working with her. 'We were trying to be very open and flexible,' Dimoff says. 'It was a combination of what we could measure in our lab as well as what she felt more comfortable in.' The carbon fiber pairs with the Zoom Air and Zoom X foam. 'For this attempt, we were really focused on Faith,' Dimoff says, 'what works best for her loads, her forces, the shape of her foot, the distance she is running.' That doesn't mean the learnings won't extend to the retail world at some point. 'After finishing optimizing for her, there is a great opportunity to step back and see what this can do for other athletes, other distances,' Dimoff says. 'Moments like this can be a great catalyst for athletes all over the track.' Every element of the footwear and apparel was specifically designed for Faith Kipyegon. The Breaking2 project that started in 2016 bred a new system of performance footwear that has led the direction of the entire industry. The Breaking4 effort isn't just footwear, though. 'It is a wholistic balance of everything,' Lisa Gibson, Nike's apparel innovation lead, tells me, adding that the team had to balance every element of performance with comfort. The biggest technological insight on Kipyegon's apparel is the use of aeronodes on the suit. The 'proprietary slick and stretchy material' arm and leg sleeves and head band are unique, but Nike believes they created 'a little bit of magic with aeronodes' added to the suit to create a controlled turbulence. The new Nike FlyWeb Bra features a 3D-printed TPU material instead of a traditional fabric. Located in specific areas of the body where engineers wanted the air to flow as smoothly and close to the body as possible to prevent drag, the nodes create small eddies of air. 'We are trying to make sure the air and wind are flowing as smoothly around Faith as possible,' Gibson says. The half spheres vary in size, all tuned to computerized and wind tunnel testing. In an additional first for the brand, the FlyWeb Bra features 3D-printed TPU meant to be lightweight and breathable while helping manage temperature and moisture. Kirby, who says he felt like a performance architect when working on the project, says that no one piece could be done apart from another. 'You set the problem at the center and then start to build those puzzle pieces,' he says. 'They have to come together toward the centralized objective.' MORE: The Tech Behind Nike Track Spikes At The Paris Olympics
