In only her second race of the year, Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya broke her own 1,500m world record (pending ratification) at the Paris Diamond League on Sunday, bashing out a 3:49.04 to take seven-hundredths of a second off her previous record of 3:49.11, set just over a year ago at the 2023 Florence Diamond League. In the process, she led most of the field to personal bests, plus two other national records and an Oceania area record for Australia’s Jessica Hull, who ran 3:50.83. (Laura Muir finished third with a new British record (3:53.79), and Agathe Guillemot of France finished eighth with a national record of 3:58.05.)
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED 🤯@Kipyegon_Faith breaks her own 1500m world record* to finish off the @MEETINGPARIS in historic style ‼️
3:49.04 ⏰
*Subject to the usual ratification procedures #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/5h584da19i
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 7, 2024
There were two pacers for the race–one for Kipyegon and one for the rest of the field, but the courageous Hull made the decision to go with Kipyegon early, and tailed her closely throughout the race, even well after the bell. Kipyegon finally pulled away in the final 200 metres.
Kipyegon was injured over the winter and did not race. In addition to the 1,500m, she holds the world record in the mile and is the former 5,000m world record holder. She is the reigning Olympic and world champion in the 1,500m and the 2023 world champion in the 5,000m.
Despite it being only her second race of the season and her first at sea level, Kipyegon showed she is still the one to beat and is the favourite to defend her Olympic 1,500m title in Paris in a month’s time.
Mahuchikh breaks women’s high jump world record
Kipyegon’s was not the only world record broken in Paris on Sunday: Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh soared to two metres and 10 centimetres to break the women’s high jump world record, which had stood at 2.09 for an incredible 37 years. Mahuchikh’s previous best was 2.06m; the previous world record was set by Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria in 1987.
You can view the full results from the 2024 Paris Diamond League, here.
