Faith Kipyegon’s 5 wins that earned her Athlete of the Year nomination
Two-time Olympic gold medalist elite Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon was announced as a nominee for the 2023 Female Athlete of the Year Award on October 11, 2023.
According to prior Nairobi News reports, the 29-year-old married mother of one is up against other finalists including Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa, America’s Sha’Carri Richardson, Dutchwoman Femke Bol, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, Japan’s Haruka Kitguchi, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Spain’s race walker Maria Perez, Venezuela’s triple jumper Yulimar Rohas and Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi.
According to World Athletics, a three-way voting process will determine the finalists. The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics family will cast their votes via email while fans can vote online via various World Athletics social media platforms.
“The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result. Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Saturday 28 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, five women and five men finalists will be announced by World Athletics on 13-14 November. The winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms on 11 December,” read a statement from World Athletics.
And so, what qualifications saw Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon be nominated for the Female Athlete of the Year? Nairobi News takes a look at her recent achievements below:
- Breaking three world records within weeks of each other- On June 2, 2023, she broke in Florence, Italy, when she set a new world record at the Golden Gala Wanda Diamond League meeting. She ran 3:49:11 to break the women’s world 1500m record of 3:50:07 that had been set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in Monaco in July 2015. On June 9, 2023, she broke yet another record within a week. She clocked 14:04:20 in the women’s world 5000m in Paris, France.
- On July 3, 2023, she also broke the women’s mile record in Monaco. She clocked 4:07:64 in the one-mile race to break Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan’s 2019 time of 4:12:33.This world record is still pending ratification by the World Athletics.
- Faith Kipyegon won the 1500m race to retain her World Record holder title in Budapest, Hungary. She clocked 3:54:87 as she won the race. This win saw her make history as the first woman to seal a hat trick of titles in the metric mile race. Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji came in second with 3:55:69 while Netherland’s Sifan Hassan came in third with 3:56:00.
- Faith Kipyegon had a double victory in Budapest, Hungary in August 2023. After winning the 1500m race and breaking a world record, she once again broke the record in the 5000m race when she clocked 14:53:88 to win. Netherlands’s Sifan Hassan came in second with 14:54:11 and Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet came in third with 14:54:33.
- Faith Kipyegon retained her 1500m Diamond League trophy- In September 2023, she won her third trophy at the Prefontaine Classic when she clocked 3:50:72 in Oregon, USA. She also won the 1500m race in Florence’s Diamond League in June 2023 when she clocked 3:49, 11 and another trophy in Monaco when she clocked 4:07:64. She has won the Diamond League trophy four times now.