You have to go back to June 2021 to find the last time Faith Kipyegon was beaten in a 1500m race, born on 10th January, 1994 in Bomet County, and grew up in Chebara, Keringet , Nakuru County, the mother of one carries Kenyans hopes at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

The Kenyan middle distance superstar will also be chasing two gold medals at the Summer Games and a historic third consecutive Olympic gold in the 1500 meters event and a maiden in 5000m.

In the 1500m, the 30 year old will be joined by Nelly Chepchirchir and US based star Lilian Ejore in the hunt for glory while in 5000m she will enjoy the company of 10,000m record holder Beatrice Chebet.

Kipyegon secured her ticket to Paris after brushing off injuries that had sidelined her for months to win the 5000m and hit in a relatively slow time by her standards of 14:46:28.

An odds-on favourite for the 1500m, the two-time Olympic champion ran a perfect qualifier to come home in a remarkable time of 3:53:98.

“It will be history to win the 1500m for the third time and to focus on the 5,000m,” Kipyegon said.

“I know it wouldn’t be easy but I am going to try and see what’s possible, “ she told the Daily Nation

Only Kipyegon and Russia’s Tatiana Kazankina have successfully defended a women’s Olympic 1500m title.

Born from Samuel Kipyegon Koech and Linah Koech, Faith is the eighth of nine children from an athletic family. Her elder sister and former training partner Beatrice Mutai is a 10km and half marathon specialist.

Her father was a 400m and 800m runner in his youth, who her mother is believed to have had athletic contact.

Kipyegon attended Chebara Primary School and later joined Winners Girls High School in Kuresoi South, Nakuru

The school was established in 2012 by Dutch philanthropist Piet de Peut to nurture athletic talents. It has produced notable athletes like Jackline Chepng’eno and Mercy Chebwogen.

Kipyegon is married to middle-distance runner Timothy Kitum, the 2012 Olympic 800m bronze medalist. They have a daughter, Alyn, born in June 2018.

She trains in Kaptagat (and Kapsabet) and has been coached since the end of 2017 by Patrick Sang, triple global 3000m steeplechase silver medalist, who is also coaching marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge.

Faith was a football player until she was introduced to athletics at Winners High School aged 14.

In 2010, at the age of 16, a barefooted Kipyegon made her international debut at the World Cross Country Championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She placed fourth in the women’s junior race as the youngest finisher in the top 21 and earned gold with her under 20 team.

Later that year (2010) her track potential was evident after finishing third in the 1500 meters at the Kenyan World Junior Championship trials in Nairobi.

She quickly made a name for herself by winning gold medals at the 2011 and 2013 World Cross Country Championships and the 2011 World Youth Championships and the 2012 World Junior Championships in the 1500m.

At the beginning of the 2013 season, she defended her Junior title at the World Cross Country Championships in Poland before she broke for the first time the 4 minute barrier in the 1500m, clocking an African U20 and Kenyan senior record of 3:56.98 in the Doha Diamond League Meeting.

Career setback

After making history at the London 2017 World Athletics Championships as the first Kenyan woman to win the 1500m, Kipyegon went on a maternity break, though she managed to train until she about five months into her pregnancy.

However, she needed a caesarean section to deliver her daughter Alyn and there were moments she was worried if she could ever make a return to the track

“I was so terrified, (thinking) maybe I will not come back, I will just disappear, ” she said.

Her return to the competition later was that of a champion, she was the surprise winner of the Prefontaine Classic in 2019 before retaining her champion status at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“[I proved that] you can take a maternity break and come back even stronger. Before I gave birth to Alyn, I never ran a world record, but now I am here with Alyn and the world record. I want to be an inspiration to many,” she said in an interview with Olympics.com, explaining how motherhood has been.