“There is no female athlete presently displaying the physiological characteristics required to run a sub-four minute mile.” – Seven (.65) Seconds Away: The Possibility and Physiology of a Women’s Sub-4 Minute Mile. Rebekah J. Osborne, Brett S. Kirby, Matthew I. Black, Anni Vanhatalo, and Andrew M. Jones
As the slowest boy in my class, I was forced to run with the girls for our 1960 Presidential Fitness Test.
Surprised nobody thought to interview me when JFK got assassinated.
And now this.
A woman will attempt to break the four-minute mile barrier. Not just any woman – Faith Kipyegon. Already five seconds faster than any other female in history. So, if anybody has a shot, it’s this mother.
Andy Jones, a Professor of Applied Physiology at the University of Exeter, is a leading researcher in the physiological determinants of endurance exercise performance. An endurance expert for Breaking2, he continues to collaborate with Nike.
There is a distinction to be made here: Kipyegon is extremely quick, but she is not inherently fast. She rarely races 800m, and her 1:57.68 personal best in that event dates back to 2020. That should, and absolutely could, be lower, though typically the exchange rate for a four-minute mile is an 800m best in the low 1:50s.
Jones co-authored a research paper published in late April (just three days before Kipyegon’s 1,000m record attempt in China) where they “speculate” on the physiological demands of a female four-minute miler, based on men who have achieved the feat.
Interestingly in the paper they conclude that “there is no female athlete presently displaying the physiological characteristics required to run a sub-four minute mile”.
You can accuse me of being a gruntled ex-employee, but I do not have a problem with Nike giving women’s athletics a boost. Within the rules, of course.
Kipyegon ran in a bespoke spike plus a speed suit (with matching arm and leg sleeves) and a “one-of-one” 3D-printed sports bra.
I am old enough to remember selling advertising space to the nice ladies who first conceived of the sports bra. Mid-1970s, Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith, made their prototype of the jogbra from a pair of men’s jock straps in the Costume Department at the University of Vermont.
When this whole event finally shakes out, wouldn’t be surprised if brassiere science was the biggest winner.
Predictions
Jack D.: I very early predicted 4:00.73, because a near-miss seemed the best story. A near-miss would drive those Beaverton folks crazy – in the best way – and give Faith the confidence to break down that barrier the next time.
Dave Ross: I’m predicting 3:59.67. 409- 1:01 809- 2:01 1209- 3:01. And run to the finish like nothing else matters.
Nobody else I queried thought she would come close. Nobody.
Rich Castro: Having only run sub-4 pace for the 880 doesn’t make me an expert but I have been following the sport since the first sub-4 minute mile was run and I know the FIRST 3 high school sub-4 milers. I want to throw out my guess on today’s attempt by Faith K. I put the over/under @ 4:03.5. Taking the over.
One legend of long distance running predicted 4:03, AFTER he watched the race.
The Attempt
You take a Kenyan Olympic champion in their prime, hand-pick a course in Europe, dress them in your latest innovative kit, place them behind a pacemaking team, and try to break a barrier once thought impossible.
Conditions were good, about 77 F at race time, and Kipyegon stayed on pace for just about the first 800m, opening with a 60.02 first lap and splitting 2:00.75 at halfway. That had her a touch outside four-minute pace, and Faith was visibly struggling by 1,000m, which she went through in 2:30.68.
I can’t even image the preparation that must have gone into that. NIKE seemed to be ready for anything. The pacers’ job was intensely difficult, and they deserve a lot of credit. That elephant herd of runners moving at 60/400 pace was trying to be “close, but not too close, to each other as well as to Faith” was an accident waiting to happen. But it didn’t. I bet a lot of NIKE people are breathing a sigh of relief today. A lot of the pacers, too. How would you have liked being the guy who stumbled into Faith and knocked her down. Hari-kiri would have been your only option. – Industry insider.
Kipyegon was not out of it with one lap to go. She hit the bell at 3:01.84, one and a half seconds off the target, but the Olympic and World champion has a reputation for finishing fast. The pacing strategy switched in the final lap, with a group of five pacers carrying her through — including 6′ 2″ Stewart McSweyn of Australia, a foot taller than Kipyegon, on her right shoulder as a wind shield.
Faith faded to finish in 4:06.42, with a last lap of just over 65 seconds. Her training partner and mentor, Eliud Kipchoge, was holding the tape.
And Now A Word From Nike
What to know
- Nike athlete Faith Kipyegon just ran a mile faster than any other woman in history — again.
- Faith bested her own world record time in the mile today in Paris, finishing with a landmark time of 4:06.42.
- With her momentous Breaking4 performance, Faith cemented her standing as the most decorated woman middle-distance athlete of all time.
- Running is a team sport: The depth of Faith’s 16-year partnership with Nike — and the brand’s holistic approach and fundamental belief in pushing the limits of human potential — helped power her historic performance.
- Faith’s moonshot stands as a symbol of courage, ambition and freedom, setting the stage for athletes of all backgrounds, disciplines and intensities to chase their dreams, no matter how ambitious.
https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-athlete-faith-kipyegon-breaks-mile-record-time
Breaking 4:07
Not too shabby. Big respect. Kudos to all. Just getting that young lady to the starting line on schedule was its own victory.
She has been doing 43-second 300m repeats at 2,500m (8,200ft) altitude in Kaptagat. That pace equates to 3:51 per mile, and is designed not just to condition her physically and sharpen mechanics, but to make her comfortable mentally with running at 60-second lap speed.
I thought she looked a mite overwhelmed when she came on the track, with a bit of a ‘let’s-get-this-over-with’ expression.
Faith started off strongly, with five men in front of her, her special sidekick Grant Fisher just ahead of her on her right and seven behind. Too fast.
Thirteen pacemakers. “They are not robots,” a performance guru reminds and right then, I realized Nike’s next move.
● 400 m: 60.20 Too fast!
● 800 m: 2:00.75
● 1,200 m: 3:01.84
For comparison, her mile world record of 4:07.64 from Monaco in July 2023:
● 400 m: 62.6
● 800 m: 2:04.6
● 1,200 m: 3:06.7
Her world 1,500 m record of 3:49.04 in Paris on 7 July 2024:
● 400 m: 62.4
● 800 m: 2:04.0
● 1,200 m: 3:04.8
So she was much faster by 1,200, but tired understandably in the final half-lap and crossed in 4:06.42, the fastest mile ever run by a woman.
Kipyegon ran a last lap of her 5K WR in 60.6. Faith covered the final 400m of a 1500m WR in 58.81. Authentic competitions.
In her Breaking4 attempt, a solo exhibition – she runs 64.4.
Faith’s run was exceptional. She was 2:00.75 at the 800, way too fast for her ability, but a target pace chosen to match the theatrical content of the event. And the runners front-side-back of her must have felt more threatening than helpful. I suspect that 2:03-04 at the half would have brought her home in 4:04-5, and I suspect that she knows that. I hope she finds another opportunity this summer. – Old coach
Me, too. Just not her day. But still it was a great day,
Breaking 4:07 is not a failure. As that renowned Oregon philosopher R. Patrick McMurphy exclaimed after falling short of a goal, “But I tried, though, goddammit, I sure as hell did that much now, didn’t I?”
Breaking The 5-Minute Barrier
On May 29, 1954 during the Midland Championships in Birmingham, England, Diane Leather became the first woman to break the 5 minute Mile barrier with a time of 4:59.6, finishing well before any of her competitors. At the time, she was a 21-year-old analytical chemist at the University of Birmingham. Because the IAAF, now World Athletics, did not keep records above 800 meters for women at that time, she was only acknowledged with a world’s best time; not a world record. She also had competed in the 800 meters earlier that afternoon.
February 19, 1966— Doris Brown (Heritage) became the first American woman to break 5 minutes for the mile when she set a World Indoor Record of 4:52.0 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The race had been advertised locally as an attempt by Canadian Roberta Pico to break the indoor 5-minute barrier, while Brown had been invited merely to provide some competition for her.
As the slowest boy in my class, I was forced to run with the girls. Realize now it was a privilege.
“If she crosses the line in under 4 minutes, it won’t just be a new world record. It’ll be a new understanding of what’s possible for women in sport.” – Carrie Dimoff, Footwear Lead
10 Details Nike Obsessed to Support Faith Kipyegon and Breaking4
PROCESS, NOT RESULT. DARE TO TRY.
As NIKE, Inc. President & CEO Elliott Hill puts it: “I will never forget this moment and watching Faith chase her dreams. This is why Nike exists: to serve athletes like Faith. History was made today, with Faith shattering her world record time. Watching her historic performance and pursuit to redefine what’s possible will inspire generations of athletes to dream bigger. I’m proud of the expertise, innovation, design, creativity and overall support that our teams provided to make the impossible possible.”