Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon proved that her dominance this year has not been a fluke after racing to GOLD in women’s 1500m at the Rio Olympics to remain unbeaten in 2016.
It was particularly impressive for the young Kenyan athlete, seeing that she defeated World Record holder, Genzebe Dibaba to win her first major international title.
The race started off slowly as the athletes knowing the capability of each other tried out tactical moves, but it was Kipyegon who won the battle of wits as she crossed the line at 4:08.92 to take the win. Dibaba got the Silver with a time of 4:10.27 and USA’s Jenny Simpson winning Bronze in 4:10.53.
Dibaba went in front after the bell looking to take the sting out of her other opponents, but it was Kipyegon who stayed strong and had courage to take her own lead in the last 200m with her Ethiopian counterpart not having enough to match her in the home straight.
It goes to show how far Kipyegon has come since losing at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing when she finished 2nd behind a dominant Dibaba who won on that day.
For Dibaba, although she has won Silver and joins her elder sister Tirunesh in winning an Olympic medal, she didn’t look too happy with her second place finish. She will hope to have a better outing in 2017, having had to battle injuries this year.
