Faith Kipyegon makes honest confession after narrowly missing World Record at Silesia Diamond League

Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon came close to breaking the women’s 3000m world record at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland on Saturday, August 16. The three-time Olympic champion gave it her all in the final stretch but finished just one second outside the long-standing mark.

Kipyegon clocked an impressive 8:07.04, setting a new meeting record and Diamond League record. She narrowly missed Wang Junxia’s 1993 world record of 8:06.11, but her run now stands as the second-fastest 3000m in history.

Notably, this was only the third 3000m race of Kipyegon’s career. Her previous best of 8:23.55 was set back in 2014. In Silesia, Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw finished second in 8:34.53. Reflecting on her performance, Kipyegon admitted she was content despite the narrow miss:

“It is all about Tokyo now. I am so happy. I wanted to run a longer distance. To be honest, I did not see the clock on the finish line because I was so tired. But now I am very satisfied with the time. I saw the world record red line during the race but today it was very hot. I want to come back here next year," Faith Kipyegon said.

"I enjoyed the atmosphere, I am happy about it. I am grateful for what I have done. All those records, this is what I love doing. I want to be an inspiration for young people and I love to challenge myself. Tokyo is a championship race, so anything can happen,” she added (via Silesia Diamond League).

The race unfolded with Kipyegon tucked in behind her pacemakers early on, followed closely by Ethiopia’s Mekedes Alemeshete and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka. At 1200m, American Karissa Schweizer briefly moved into third. By the 2000m mark, Jessica Hull had dropped back as Likina Amebaw pressed into second place.

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Faith Kipyegon’s 2025 season

2025 Diamond League - Silesia - Source: Getty

Faith Kipyegon has had an impressive 2025 season. She started her season at the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country and then made her track debut at the Diamond League Meeting in Xiamen, where she raced over 1000m, clocking 2:29.21. She later joined Nike’s Breaking 4 project, aiming to run a sub-four-minute mile, but fell short with a 4:06.42 finish.

In July, she returned to Eugene, Oregon, and lowered her own 1500m world record yet again, clocking 3:48.68, and became the first woman to break 3:49 in the event.

A three-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion, Faith Kipyegon remains the only woman in history to win three consecutive Olympic 1500m titles (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024). She is next expected to compete at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September.