Faith Kipyegon's already a three-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion. She’s already the world-record holder in the mile and 1,500.
Next on her to-accomplish list: Become the first woman to break the 4-minute mile barrier.
The 31-year-old Kipyegon is making a run at that hallowed mark in a Nike-sponsored event dubbed “ Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile " on June 26 at the Stade Charlety in Paris. She set the world record mark of 4:07.64 nearly two years ago during a Diamond League meet in Monaco.
“I think breaking four will really cement my legacy,” Kipyegon said in a Zoom call on Wednesday. “The next generation is looking up to us to show them the way and this is what I’m doing now. ... Everything we do, we have to dream big and just believe in ourselves that we could do it.”
It was more than 71 years ago when British runner Roger Bannister became the first man to eclipse 4 minutes when he ran 3:59.4.
For Kipyegon, finding extra speed to trim a little more than 7.64 seconds occupies her thoughts and drives her in training. But really, she and her coach, Patrick Sang, aren't altering from their routine too much to chase a sub-4 mile time.
What she's doing in workouts now has already proven highly successful. She won her third straight 1,500 Olympic title in Paris last August. A month before that, she broke her own 1,500 record on the same track where she will run next Thursday.
“For me, I would say being mentally strong and believing in everything I do,” she said of preparing for big moments. “Believing in the training, believing in waking up to empower the next generation, believing in everything that has been from my younger time when I was running barefoot to where I am now. It has really given me that drive to wake up and go for training and just be strong.”
She will be wearing the latest innovations from Nike, too, from her aerodynamic track suit to her spikes. Should she break the mark, it would be subject to ratification by World Athletics.
Fellow Kenyan runner, longtime friend and training partner Eliud Kipchoge has been providing emotional support. He had an event set up for him in 2019, when he ran a marathon in 1:59:40 to break the 2-hour marathon barrier at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Austria. The mark wasn’t ratified by the sport's governing body.
“It will be lovely to see Eliud after the finish line,” said Kipyegon, who's a four-time world champion. “I get positive messages from around the world that I can do it. ... It really motivates me a lot going on to this challenge. I know it will not be easy, but I’m going to try my best and we will see what the finish line offers.”
She’s eager for the challenge to show the next generation of female runners that anything is possible. That includes her young daughter, Alyn.
“You have to dream and just be patient for it,” Kipyegon said.
Same with her quest next week, which she will approach in increments.
“You have to dream of how will I cross the 800 mark? How will I cross that 1,200 mark?" Kipyegon explained. "It’s the repetition of, ‘I have to be myself and just think of how will I shed the seven seconds?’
"I will feel so great if I just run after that finish line and see under four minutes. It will be historical.”
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
FILE - Faith Kipyegon, of Kenya, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 1500 meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
FILE - Faith Kipyegon, of Kenya, celebrates after winning the women's 1500-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
