Nike Announces Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile

Faith Kipyegon is the three time Olympic gold medalist at 1,500 meters.

Since 2014, the only year that Faith did not take gold was the year she had her child, and she took silver that year!

A world class racer at 800 meters, 1,500 meters, mile and 5,000 meters, what, truly is her best distance?

That is a good question.

On June 26, 2025, at the Stade Charlety in Paris, France, one of my favorite stadiums, Faith Kipyegon is going to see just how close she can get to the mythical four minute mile.

Faith’s very best mile is a tad over 4:07. Can she take seven seconds off?

Well, NIKE will provide Faith Kipyegon with everything she desires and then some, from footwear to speed suits to pacers in this attempt to take women’s distance running to the next level.

In the remote presser, which you can listen to, in its entirety, below, Faith Kipyegon is interviewed by NIKE staff on the upcoming event, the meaning of this four minute mile dream for Faith and what she it trying to communicate to the next generation.

Faith Kipyegon is a sport warrior. Faith puts it all into her races. From the Pre Classic to Paris DL, from Rio 2026 to Paris 2024, Faith Kipyegon continues to show that each race has something to learn, each race has its challenges. Faith Kipyegon puts her all into her races, and that is something to see!

What do I think? I think, if Faith KIpyegon runs this race as a sanctioned event, where her time could count as a world record, that the Kenyan star can run 4:04.5-4:05.

Faith has 800 meter speed (1:57), and 5,000m strength (14:05), can she mix them together for the magical four-minute mile? That is sport!

I think that this is an ongoing battle with the challenges of the four-minute mile.

As the old NIKE poster said, from 1970s, “There is No Finish Line.”

Special thanks to NIKE (Cheyenne Wood), and Brian Eder at RunBlogRun for production on my recording of the June 19 remote presser with Faith Kipyegon. 

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America’s first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: “I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself.” Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, ” I’m no Angel.”

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