Mile, women

What to remember

Faith Kipyegon's summer of 2023 brought three world records. On June 2, at the Golden Gala in Florence, she ran the 1500 m; on June 9, at the Meeting de Paris, the 5000 m. On July 21, at the Herculis meeting in Monaco, she added the mile in 4 min 07.64 s, an average of 23.395 km/h.

The mile measures exactly 1,609.344 metres. A legacy of the races of 18th and 19th century England, it has been the only imperial distance on World Athletics' books for official world records since 1976, whereas the Olympics and the World Championships use the roughly equivalent 1500 m instead.

Born in Bomet, in the Rift Valley, the Kenyan won Olympic 1500 m gold in Rio in 2016, in Tokyo and in Paris in 2024, the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympic titles in the women's 1500 m. She was also world 1500 m champion in 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2025, and added the 5000 m title in Budapest in 2023.