Kipyegon sets third world record in 2023 at Monaco Diamond League

 Kenya's Faith Kipyegon earned her third world record in less than two months at the Monaco Diamond League meeting as she ran the women’s mile in 4min 07.64sec, obliterating the mark of 4:12.33 set by her long-time rival Sifan Hassan on the same Stade Louis II track in 2019.

Kenya’s double Olympic 1500m champion, who this year became the first woman to break 3:50 for that distance when she clocked 3:49.11 in Florence on June 2 and followed up a week later with a world 5,000m record of 14:05.20 in Paris, banished frustrating memories of this Herculis meeting with her latest stupendous performance.

In 2020 she missed Svetlana Masterkova’s 1996 world 1000m record by just 0.17sec as she ran 2:29.15.

Last year she came within 0.3sec of the world 1500m record of 3:50.07 set on the same track in Monaco by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia.

It looked like a case of third-time lucky on this occasion - although luck didn’t come into it as the 29-year-old mother shattered her 2015 personal best of 4:16.71 with another inexorable performance in the penultimate big meeting before the World Athletics Championships start in Budapest on August 19 - with the London Diamond League coming up on Sunday (July 23).

But while Kipyegon was in a race of her own, a world-class field battled it out further down the track, with 31-year-old European 1500m silver medallist Ciara Mageean excelling herself again to finish second in an Irish record of 4:14.58.

Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu was third in 4:14.79, with the Briton who followed Kipyegon home in the Tokyo 2020 1500m, Laura Muir, fourth in a national record of 4:15.24.Behind her Australia’s Jessica Hull set an area record of 4:15.34 and Nikki Hiltz of the United States also recorded an area record of 4:16.35.

 Once again, as they had followed her 1500m breakthrough, Kipyegon’s rivals made it very clear how pleased they were that she had another world record.

"It was a blessing to do this with these ladies," said Kipyegon.

"I can see that they are all happy for me and it is so emotional.

"I do not know how I am doing this because it just keeps going really in a good way.

"When I started this season, my goal was to just break the 1500m world record.

"Thank God I did also the one mile and the 5,000 meters - so many!

"I want to defend my world title at 1500m in Hungary but I am going to double also with the 5,000m in Budapest."