I was facing a lot of pressure - Faith Kipyegon
Speaking in her post race interview after clocking a speedy 3 minutes 52.96 seconds to win the gold medal, Kipyegon said, ““I was facing a lot of pressure,” said Kipyegon, the two-time Olympic champion in the 1500m. “Everybody was expecting something special from me. Everybody was like, ‘Faith, we believe in Faith,’ so it was a real pressure. But I managed i
Faith Kipyegon has opened up to the pressure she faced before racing to victory in the 1500m race at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Speaking in her post race interview after clocking a speedy 3 minutes 52.96 seconds to win the gold medal, Kipyegon said, ““I was facing a lot of pressure,” said Kipyegon, the two-time Olympic champion in the 1500m. “Everybody was expecting something special from me. Everybody was like, ‘Faith, we believe in Faith,’ so it was a real pressure. But I managed it.”
After crossing the finish line, Kipyegon, 28, kissed the track and blew kisses to the crowd on ‘Women in the Spotlight’ day.
“I’m so grateful to have won the gold medal,” Kipyegon said. “This was my big target. I did do it. I was really looking forward to this championship. I was really, really prepared for this race.”
“To tell you the truth, I knew the Ethiopian lady was going to be fast,” Kipyegon said. “I knew she was a front-runner, and we ran really quick and I thank God I won.”
Kipyegon has placed first or second in every major championship since 2015. Three years ago, she was coming off maternity leave after having her daughter and placed second behind Sifan Hassan, whose 3:51.95 is the championship record. Kipyegon also earned a silver in 2015.
After Kipyegon won her second straight Olympic gold medal, Muir called her “the greatest of all time.”
“I can say thank you so much,” Kipyegon said at the post-race press conference in Oregon, with Muir at her side. “I’m really grateful; she is really a nice lady. Before the race, I talked with her and I wish her all the best. Laura, let’s continue like this. This is the spirit of sports.”
Kipyegon added that she was happy that Great Britain’s Laura Muir, the Olympic 1500m silver medallist, won her first World Championships medal.
“She has been really fighting since 2017 in London and also in 2019 in Doha,” Kipyegon said.
The Kenyan said she will skip the upcoming Commonwealth Games and prepare for the Diamond League meeting in Monaco.
She wouldn’t speculate about possibly breaking the world record. “I can’t talk about it right now,” Kipyegon said. “Let me focus myself and see what is possible. I will be trying my best to lower my personal best and to run a good race.”
In the meantime, she will spend time with her daughter. “She is everything to me,” Kipyegon said.
