She is the only three-time Olympic champion in the 1500 metres race, having won a gold medal each at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2020 Tokyo, and the 2024 Paris Olympics. She lit up Monaco on 21 July 2023, running a stunning 4:07.64 mile at the Herculis Diamond League, breaking through Sifan Hassan’s previous 4:12.33 by nearly five seconds.

That night at Stade Louis II, she struck perfectly, settling behind pacemakers, accelerating at the bell, and closing in about 60 seconds to claim her third world record in just two months. This iconic run now stands as the official women’s world mile record, but Faith Kipyegon is still not done yet. She is looking to break this record as well. Amid all this,  Sha’Carri Richardson has sent a message. What’s that?

On June 24, 2025, Faith Kipyegon made a tweet saying, “Let’s have Faith 🙏#Breaking4 ❤️” as she posted a picture of herself with her hands joined and looking into the sky – praying to god, perhaps. Sha’Carri Richardson decided that the GOAT of track must step with her support as well, so she quoted the tweet, waiting, “HAVE FAITH#Breaking4 ❤️“. Here, breaking four means that she is going to try to run a mile in under four minutes – something that has never been done in the history of the sport.

Faith Kipyegon’s upcoming Breaking4 attempt on June 26, 2025, at Stade Charléty in Paris aims to break the historic four-minute mile barrier, over 7.65 seconds faster than her official world record of 4:07.64 set in Monaco in 2023. The event is being sponsored by Nike, and to help her make history, everyone from physiologists to shoe designers has rallied to find ways to help her trim every hundredth of a second possible.

Nike has built a precision system: an aerodynamic skinsuit with 3D-printed aeronodes, a lightweight Victory Elite FK spike, and a custom FlyWeb sportswear. The aerodynamic skinsuit is a speed suit aimed at reducing drag and improving aerodynamic efficiency. To address the aerodynamic inefficiencies that the human hair and skin may produce, she would don a headband and arm sleeves. Tiny 3D‑printed aeronodes are embedded across the suit, headband, sleeves, and even her leg panels to manage airflow, reducing drag by breaking up turbulence into controlled eddies.

The FlyWeb sportswear is crafted from a 3D-printed TPU mesh, repurposing the same lightweight material often found in super shoe foams. Instead of cushioning, Nike uses TPU filament to engineer an open, breathable structure designed to move seamlessly with the body. The result is a form-fitting, flexible layer that supports without restriction, enhancing mobility while keeping the athlete cool under pressure. On her feet, the Victory Elite FK super spikes fuse a higher Zoom Air midsole, dual carbon plates, 3D‑printed titanium spike pins, and shaved weight from her Olympic shoes. Now she has Sha’Carri Richardson‘s blessings as well.

She’ll be guided by a rotating team of male pacemakers, dropping in and out throughout the race, which violates World Athletics rules requiring consistent competition pacing. This disqualifies this from being considered an official world record if she successfully pulls off a sub-8-mile. Though she once made 3 world records in two months.

Faith Kipyegon once marked three world records in 60 days

In Florence, Italy, on June 2, 2023, at the Golden Gala (Diamond League) held in Stadio Luigi Ridolfi, Faith Kipyegon raced the 1500 m in 3:49.11, becoming the first woman to break the 3:50 barrier. She eclipsed Genzebe Dibaba’s previous world record of 3:50.07 (set in 2015), winning by over eight seconds in a stunning negative-split performance.  One week later, on June 9, 2023, at the Paris Diamond League (Meeting de Paris) in Stade Charléty, Kipyegon ran the 5000 m in 14:05.20.

In just her third-ever race at that distance, and first in eight years, she overtook reigning world-record holder Letesenbet Gidey, whose mark of 14:06.62 she smashed by 1.42 seconds. Gidey finished second in 14:07.94. Then, in July at the Monaco Diamond League, she set her third world record in under two months, running the mile in 4:07.64. With this, Kipyegon joined a legendary class of athletes like Henry Rono, who broke four records in 81 days in 1978. Now she aims to break the record for a mile. The decision to attempt this did shock the track and field community, but do you think she can do it?