Fast Women: Faith Kipyegon three-peats
Beatrice Chebet completes her golden double.
Issue 309, sponsored by SOAR Running
During the Olympic Games, I’m sending out newsletters more frequently, so I can cover all the action in a timely manner. Fast Women will return to its regular once-a-week schedule on Monday.
Faith Kipyegon wins an unprecedented third-straight Olympic 1500m title
In the interest of getting this newsletter out relatively quickly, so some of you will have time to read it before tomorrow morning’s marathon, I’m using bullet points to cover the 1500m final.
First, if you haven’t watched the race, you can watch the full replay here.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon went into the 1500m final as a pretty heavy favorite. But she was at a disadvantage having run two rounds of the 5,000m, something most of her competitors hadn’t done. Add in the fact that she had a pretty rough experience in the 5,000m, getting disqualified and then reinstated, and there was some question about whether she would be slightly more vulnerable here. She was not. Kipyegon ran a fantastic race, and once she made her move, the outcome was never in doubt. She won in 3:51.29 and improved her own Olympic record by 1.82 seconds. She became the first person to win three Olympic 1500m titles in a row.
After her 3:50.83 1500m at the Paris Diamond League meet last month, it was no surprise to see Australia’s Jessica Hull earn silver, her country’s first medal in this event, in 3:52.56.
I was a little more surprised to see Great Britain’s Georgia Bell win bronze, just because she has had such an unusual path to get to this point. But it really isn’t that surprising when you consider that her pre-Olympic tuneup race was a 1:56.28 800m at the London Diamond League meet. The fact that Bell made it to the Olympic Games at all was a great story. Her winning a medal is just next level. She ran an incredible 3:52.61, a 3.93-second PR and a British record. Her whole story is just kind of ridiculous; she was a 4:12.16 1500m runner at the start of the year. (For more, she was recently on The Happiness Lab podcast.)
Kipyegon admitted after the race that she was rattled by her experience in the 5,000m, and she didn’t sleep until the day before the 1500m final. "I didn't know I would come out strong today, after what I went through over the 5,000m,” she said. “It really took a lot of energy [from] me. It shook my mentality, I was thinking the whole night (about) what happened, but coming out today and just executing and running my race was just what I wanted."
Hull said that at the top of the homestretch, with four athletes battling for three medals, she told herself, “I’m not going to be the one going home without a medal.” This is a good article about Hull’s run, from the Brisbane Times. (I thought it was interesting that she avoids people leading up to championship races now, after getting sick at Worlds in 2022. Because so many athletes appeared to not do that in Paris.)
Bell is part of the same track club as 800m gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson. They’re both coached by Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows.
Imagine running 3:52.75, going under the previous Olympic record, and not earning a medal. That’s what happened to Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji, who ran 3:52.75 and finished fourth.
Great Britain’s Laura Muir finished fifth in a personal best of 3:53.37. “I thought, 'Oh, at least I’ve got a British record,’” Muir said. “But I don’t even have [the] British record anymore. I’ve got a Scottish record. I’m so chuffed that one of us got on the podium.”
Nikki Hiltz finished seventh in 3:56.38 and Elle St. Pierre was eighth, in 3:57.52. For more on their races, this is a good article by Fast Women editor Sarah Lorge Butler, for Runner’s World. (Disclaimer: She is my editor, but she did not edit this! If she had, I think she would have gotten rid of that exclamation point. She is busy in Paris, so I can do what I want!!)
Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay led through 400m in 59.3 seconds, and the American duo wasn’t far behind, both under 60 seconds. It sounds like that’s what they felt they needed to be to be competitive, but it probably hurt their finishing speed. St. Pierre hit the bell lap in 2:52.2, with Hiltz close behind in 2:52.6.
Hiltz pointed out that they don’t have a ton of international racing experience, and said they might try to do some more Diamond League races in the future, to prepare for this kind of competition. They’ve made a big jump this year. Heading into the outdoor season, Hiltz had only broken 4:00 once. Now they’ve broken 3:57 three times.
Four out of the 12 runners in the final spent at least some time running for the University of Oregon: Hull, Kenya’s Susan Ejore (who was sixth in 3:56.07, a PR), Hiltz, and current U of O runner Klaudia Kazimierska (who placed 10th in 4:00.12, a PR).
Ethiopia’s decision to enter Tsegay in three events, much to the frustration of some of the athletes who could have filled those spots, did not go well. She took ninth in the 5,000m, sixth in the 10,000m, and 12th in the 1500m. Despite being so strong throughout the year, Ethiopia only won one women’s middle-distance/distance medal in Paris—Tsige Duguma’s 800m silver. I’m not sure what to make of this tweet, but combined with other news coming from Ethiopia, it sounds like Ethiopia’s athletics federation needs to get their act together.
You can see the 1500m results, with splits, here.
Thanks to SOAR for sponsoring Fast Women’s Olympic coverage
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Beatrice Chebet holds off Nadia Battocletti, earns Kenya’s first women’s 10,000m gold
Though she was still tired after winning the Olympic 5,000m, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet summoned just enough of a kick to win the 10,000m four days later, running 30:43.25 and becoming only the third woman to pull off the Olympic 5,000m/10,000m double.
After a fourth-place finish in the 5,000m, followed by additional drama that had her thinking she had won bronze for about two hours, Italy’s Nadia Battocletti gave Chebet a good race and bounced back to win silver in 30:43.35. Chebet became the first Kenyan woman to win the Olympic 10,000m, and Battocletti was the first Italian woman to win an Olympic 10,000m medal of any color.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands followed up her bronze medal in the 5,000m with a bronze in the 10,000m as well, running 30:44.12. And less than 35 hours after finishing this race, she’ll line up to compete in the marathon as well.
Chebet, 24, said afterwards that in order to win the 10,000m, she tried to put her 5,000m win out of her mind. She was particularly motivated to bring this title back to Kenya for the first time. “I know my country is proud of me,” she said. “I know that when I go back home, they will come and welcome me, and cheer (for) me.
While Chebet was already an international superstar, having won two World Cross Cross Country titles (in addition to some U20 titles), her 10,000m world record in May, plus her Olympic double, cements her status as one of the best runners of all time.
After hitting kilometer splits of 3:12.1, 3:06.7, 3:08.2, 3:11.2, 3:00.2 (15:38.4 at halfway), 3:11.9, 3:01.4, 3:05.3, and roughly 3:04.4, there were still 10 runners in contention with one lap remaining. But Chebet produced a 57.5-second final lap and narrowly held off Battocletti.
You wouldn’t know it by the way she ran, but Battocletti, 24, was dealing with Achilles pain going into the race and she said she had an MRI two days earlier. She wasn’t sure that she would run at all. But in addition to earning silver, she also lowered her own national record by 7.97 seconds, in an unevenly-paced race.
Battocletti said that after seeing the video of what happened in the 5,000m, she wouldn’t have wanted to win a medal that way. But she was thrilled to run so well in the 10,000m. "This is the dream of every middle-distance racer,” Battocletti said afterwards. “I am very happy with the competitive grit and determination that I had in this race."
Battocletti is coached by her father, Giuliano Battocletti, who was a 13:20 5,000m runner and represented Italy at eight world cross country championships. (He also served a 16-month doping ban in 1999.) Her mother Jawhara Saddougui, was a 2:01 800m runner for Morocco.
Battocletti said a lot of her recent progress is due to hard work and improving her mental game. But this World Athletics article from last fall suggests that finishing up her (very intense) education in recent months is now allowing her to finally live the life of a professional runner.
Hassan said afterwards that she is very grateful to win a second bronze medal, and that she believes her struggles earlier this season were due to overtraining. Though she spoke to some reporters after the race, she didn’t stay for the press conference, and who can blame her? Her toughest race of the Games still remains. But she has also put herself in a position where anything she does in the marathon will be a cherry on top of what she has already accomplished.
Kelati, Schweizer, and Valby put together a solid 10,000m showing
With about 600 meters remaining in the Olympic 10,000m, all three Americans were still in the lead pack. Parker Valby started to fall off around that point, and Weini Kelati and Karissa Schweizer dropped back with about 400m to go. But they all held their own in a tough race. Kelati finished eighth in 30:49.98. Schweizer took ninth in 30:51.99, and Valby finished 11th in 30:59.28.
That’s an improvement over the 2021 Olympic Games, where Emily Sisson was 10th, Schweizer was 12th, and Alicia Monson finished 13th. Kelati said afterwards that she expected the race to go out faster. But instead, it became a kicker’s race, which isn’t her favorite kind of racing. Still, she hung in there and led the way for the trio, just as she did at the Trials.
Schweizer, too, was hoping for a faster pace, but she was pleased to place higher in both events than she did three years ago at the Tokyo Games. And given that she’s had both Haglund’s surgery and a femoral stress reaction in the past year, ninth in the world is fantastic.
Valby was harder on herself after the race than I would have expected. I thought she ran really well. In a race where only three athletes ran PRs, she was only 8.85 seconds away from hers, at the end of a very long year of competition. “I’m not super excited with it, but I’m happy to have finished,” she said. “I’m happy with my effort; I gave it my best effort. It was definitely a learning experience. I’ve never run in the middle/back of the pack like that.”
In the fifth mile, when the pace slowed, Valby moved up on the shoulder of the leader, Kenya’s Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, for just over 200 meters, which seemed to help get the pace going again. Valby said later that she did so just to get a break from all of the jostling and elbows that came with running in the pack.
Valby said that racing at the Olympics showed her she belongs out there, and now she’s looking forward to taking “a big fat break.”
France’s Alessia Zarbo, who spent some time running for the University of Oregon, collapsed mid race and was taken away on a stretcher. The only update I’ve seen on her so far is a statement from the French federation saying she’s “feeling better and recovering.” (10,000m highlights | Detailed results | More on the Americans, from Runner’s World)
Other notes from Paris
Thanks to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone running 47.71 on the second leg of the 4x400m relay, the race was never close. Shamier Little led off with a 49.48, Gabby Thomas ran 49.30 on the third leg, and Alexis Holmes brought the team home with a 48.78 split. Their time, 3:15.27, broke the American record and was only 0.10 second off of the world record set by the Soviet Union in 1988. Thomas earned her third gold medal of the meet. After helping her team win gold in the mixed 4x400, Femke Bol anchored the Netherlands to silver (3:19.50). Great Britain, anchored by Amber Anning, won bronze (3:19.72) and the top five teams all set national records. (4x400m relay replay | Results)
First-year professional runner Masai Russell, who finished her collegiate career at the University of Kentucky last year, edged out France’s Cyréna Samba-Mayela to win the 100m hurdles, 12.33 to 12.34. Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the defending champion, earned bronze (12.36). “I was tossing and turning because I kept dreaming about my name coming up No. 1,” Russell told reporters afterwards. “When it actually came up, I was like, 'Stop playing me, stop playing me.’” Samba-Mayela’s medal was the host country’s only track & field medal of these Olympics, but at least in the women’s distance events, medals or not, I was impressed by France’s showing. (100mH replay | Results)
Melissa Jefferson, TeeTee Terry, Gabby Thomas, and Sha’Carri Richardson teamed up to win gold for the U.S. in the 4x100m relay in 41.78. Great Britain finished second (41.85) and Germany took third (41.97). When Richardson got the baton, the U.S. was behind, and this look over to her competitors after she passed them is getting a lot of attention. Germany’s leadoff runner, Alexandra Burghardt became the eight athlete in history to earn a medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympics. At the 2022 Games, she won silver in the two-woman bobsled. It hasn’t rained too much during the Olympic track & field action, but like the 100m final, the 4x100 took place in the rain. (4x100m relay replay | Results)
Marileidy Paulino won the 400m in an Olympic record of 48.17 and became the first woman from the Dominican Republic to win an Olympic gold medal. She moved to fourth on the world all-time list. Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, who served a two-year doping suspension for whereabouts failures, won silver (48.53) and Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek won bronze (48.98). This is a good article about how well athletes from the Caribbean have done in Paris. (400m replay | Results)
Belgium’s Nafi Thiam made history by winning her third-consecutive Olympic heptathlon title, scoring 6,880 points. “I didn’t cross [the finish] line and think that I made history,” she said afterwards. “I thought all this pain, hard work, sacrifice, all those moments where I felt lonely…all of that paid off, and I’m really grateful for that. As I always say, in sports you give everything you have…but you have to take whatever the sport gives you, and it can be nothing. Today it’s a lot, and I’m grateful for that.” Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson earned silver (6,844 points), and Belgium’s Noor Vidts earned bronze (6,707 points). Anna Hall was disappointed to finish fifth (6,615 points), but just getting to Paris after having knee surgery in January is impressive. Taliyah Brooks finished 11th (6,258 points) and Chari Hawkins finished 21st (5,255 points), after no-heighting in the high jump. (Heptathlon 800m video | Results)
Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye won the shot put with a mark of 20.00 meters, and then sang for reporters at the post-competition press conference. New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche won silver (19.86m), China’s Song Jiayuan won bronze (19.32m), and Jaida Ross, this year’s NCAA champion for the University of Oregon, just missed out on a medal, placing fourth (19.28m). World champion Chase Jackson had a tough meet and did not advance to the final. Here’s what she had to say after the competition. (Shot put highlights | Results)
Some pre-marathon reading
Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir talked to Sarah Gearhart about her goal of becoming the first woman to repeat as Olympic marathon champion. (Outside/Run)
Hellen Obiri, also of Kenya, says that if she wins the Olympic marathon, she thinks this will be her last Olympic Games.
Dakotah Lindwurm discussed what it’s like to compete in the last event of the Olympic Games, why she opted to only spend one night in the Olympic Village, and how she’s been passing the time in Paris with Outside/Run.
Although it sounds like she won’t be running, it’s interesting and unfortunate to know that someone on Team USA was feeling doubtful enough about their chances of making it to the starting line that Jess McClain was notified, and she chose to fly to Paris. (Runner’s World)
Here’s a little bit about why the women’s marathon will be the last event of the Paris Olympic Games.
I was impressed by how fast the men ran in the Olympic marathon, given how hard the course is. Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won in an Olympic record of 2:06:26. It looks like conditions will be warmer for the women, but I’m revising my thoughts about what’s possible after Tola’s run.
In the newsletter I sent yesterday, I accidentally cut off one bullet point mid thought. I hope I didn’t leave anyone in suspense. This is how it should have read: After Noah Lyles revealed that he had Covid when he competed in yesterday’s 200m final, journalist Cathal Dennehy tweeted, “Have a feeling Covid is having a far bigger impact at these Games than most people realize.”
Now I can’t wait for the Olympic marathon to start in less than five hours. But first, some sleep.
Alison
I LOVE all your Olympics coverage, Alison! "I can do what I want!!" lol