Glittering Faith Kipyegon Wins 2023 Diamond League Title

16th September 2023 - by Stephen Ochieng

Kipyegon set a new meeting record after clocking 3:50.72 which is also the fifth fastest time ever.

SUMMARY

Kipyegon successfully defended her title after finishing ahead of Ethiopia’s Welteji Diribe and Great Britain’s Laura Muir.
The double Olympic champion clocked 3:50.72 which was a new meeting record and the fifth fastest time in history.
The win saw Kipyegon maintain her unbeaten run in 2023.

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon was once again in a class of her own as she smashed the field in Eugene to win the 2023 Diamond League title on Saturday night ahead of Ethiopia’s Welteji Diribe and Great Britain’s Laura Muir.

The triple world champion, who has been in her own universe on track this season, crowned a historic 2023 campaign with a 3:50.72 time that was a new meeting record as she successfully defended the crown she won last year and maintained her unbeaten record in 2023.

In her idiosyncratic fashion, Kipyegon, who was fresh from becoming the first woman in history to win the 1500-5000 metres double at the just concluded Budapest World Championships, hit the front and controlled the race from start to finish with Diribe clocking 3:53.93 and Muir 3:55.16.

“I did not watch the clock, I was just running my race to see what will happen at the finish line. So it was amazing to run a meeting record.

“It has been a fantastic year for me and I really thank God for that, starting with the World Record to now winning the trophy. Now I go back home to enjoy a little bit. My mind is to defend my title over the 1500, so we will see what will happen,” Kipyegon said after the race.

The 2023 crown saw Kipyegon add onto the three World Records she set in the 1500m, 5000m and the mile.

She also won gold in the 1500m and 5000m in Budapest.

Elsewhere, Beatrice Chepkoech and youngster Faith Cherotich were forced to contend with second and third place finishes respectively after coming behind reigning World Champion Winfred Yavi in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.

Yavi, who switched her allegiance from Kenya to Bahrain, ensured that the order in the just concluded Budapest championships remained the same as she took matters into her own hands with around two laps to go before holding onto the win in a personal best time of 8:50.66 which was also the new Area Record, Meet Record, World Lead and second fastest ever time in history.

Chepkoech and Cherotich timed 8:51.67 and 8:59.65 respectively to maintain the same order withnessed in Budapest.