Faith Kipyegon certain a woman will break four-minute mile barrier within a decade
Faith Kipyegon remains convinced that a woman will break the four-minute mile barrier within 10 years, despite falling more than six seconds short in her record attempt in Paris.
It was a disappointing result for Kipyegon and her sponsor Nike, who had hoped that aerodynamic skinsuits, lighter super spikes and a team of 13 pacers would help the 31-year-old Kenyan get within touching distance of the famous mark.
But speaking to the Guardian on the morning after running 4min 06.42sec in Paris, Kipyegon insisted she was still proud to have rolled the dice – and to have run a mile quicker than any woman in history. She also predicted that new technology was coming that would also help Britain's Keely Hodgkinson break the women's 800m world record of 1min 53.28sec, which has stood since 1983.
'Absolutely there will be a woman running a mile in under four minutes,' she said. 'And I think it will take less than 10 years. And if it doesn't come my way, it will be someone else doing it.'
Asked why she was so confident, given the gap was still more than six seconds, she replied: 'Going forward, the technology will be even higher than what I was using yesterday. So I think one day, one time, it will happen.'
Kipyegon admitted that she had struggled in the final 200m, having heard the bell in 3:01. But she insisted she would not have changed anything about her attempt.
'Birds sometimes fall but they fly again,' she said. 'I believe I will still lower the world record of 4.07. I want to get it very close to the four minutes mark. And I believe I can still run under 4.05 in a race with female pacemakers.'
Kipyegon's next race will be over 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, next week, and she insists she is in shape to challenge her world record of 3:49.04. However she said there are no plans yet to have another crack at the four-minute mile barrier.
In Paris she spoke to Hodgkinson, who told her she is hungry to go faster once she has recovered from a hamstring injury. 'I talked with Keely yesterday about everything,' said Kipyegon. 'And my run was a huge inspiration for her. She's hungry to go under 1.54 in the 800m. And I think Keely Hodgkinson one day, one time, will run under 1.53. She is so fast.'
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Nike's chief innovation officer, Tony Bignell, who has worked with the company since helping design spikes for Michael Johnson at the Atlanta and Sydney Games, promised that there would be more innovation and attempts at breaking records. 'Yes, I've seen things in the lab, and I've put things on my foot where I've thought: 'I've never felt that before,'' said Bignell. 'And that's coming.
'Last night could have been anywhere on a scale of zero to 10, but we took the risk. And taking risks is a good thing.'
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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Faith Kipyegon certain a woman will break four-minute mile barrier within a decade
Faith Kipyegon remains convinced that a woman will break the four-minute mile barrier within 10 years, despite falling more than six seconds short in her record attempt in Paris. It was a disappointing result for Kipyegon and her sponsor Nike, who had hoped that aerodynamic skinsuits, lighter super spikes and a team of 13 pacers would help the 31-year-old Kenyan get within touching distance of the famous mark. But speaking to the Guardian on the morning after running 4min 06.42sec in Paris, Kipyegon insisted she was still proud to have rolled the dice – and to have run a mile quicker than any woman in history. She also predicted that new technology was coming that would also help Britain's Keely Hodgkinson break the women's 800m world record of 1min 53.28sec, which has stood since 1983. 'Absolutely there will be a woman running a mile in under four minutes,' she said. 'And I think it will take less than 10 years. And if it doesn't come my way, it will be someone else doing it.' Asked why she was so confident, given the gap was still more than six seconds, she replied: 'Going forward, the technology will be even higher than what I was using yesterday. So I think one day, one time, it will happen.' Kipyegon admitted that she had struggled in the final 200m, having heard the bell in 3:01. But she insisted she would not have changed anything about her attempt. 'Birds sometimes fall but they fly again,' she said. 'I believe I will still lower the world record of 4.07. I want to get it very close to the four minutes mark. And I believe I can still run under 4.05 in a race with female pacemakers.' Kipyegon's next race will be over 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, next week, and she insists she is in shape to challenge her world record of 3:49.04. However she said there are no plans yet to have another crack at the four-minute mile barrier. In Paris she spoke to Hodgkinson, who told her she is hungry to go faster once she has recovered from a hamstring injury. 'I talked with Keely yesterday about everything,' said Kipyegon. 'And my run was a huge inspiration for her. She's hungry to go under 1.54 in the 800m. And I think Keely Hodgkinson one day, one time, will run under 1.53. She is so fast.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Nike's chief innovation officer, Tony Bignell, who has worked with the company since helping design spikes for Michael Johnson at the Atlanta and Sydney Games, promised that there would be more innovation and attempts at breaking records. 'Yes, I've seen things in the lab, and I've put things on my foot where I've thought: 'I've never felt that before,'' said Bignell. 'And that's coming. 'Last night could have been anywhere on a scale of zero to 10, but we took the risk. And taking risks is a good thing.'
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘A three-week drama in daily episodes': curtain to fall on free-to-air Tour de France coverage
When the last rider rolls across the Tour de France finish line in Paris on 27 July it will mark more than the end of the world's most prestigious bike race. Once Gary Imlach and team have wrapped up, it will conclude four decades of free-to-air Tour coverage for British TV viewers. While the sport, and the technology used to broadcast it, have transformed since the 1980s, the excellence of the ITV programme (previously on Channel 4) has been constant. Just as British and Irish interest in the race has cycled through eras – from Sean Kelly to David Millar, to Chris Boardman and later Mark Cavendish, to Team Sky of Wiggins, Froome and Thomas – the on-air cast has naturally evolved. Nick Owen and Richard Keys first presented the highlights: Owen in '86, Keys in '87 and '88. Phil Liggett, for a time, doubled as presenter and commentator, and Liggett and Paul Sherwen were succeeded by the more cerebral – and no less popular – Ned Boulting and Millar on commentary. In an increasingly fragmented industry, though, Imlach is established as the face of cycling on terrestrial TV, blending journalistic rigour with a drily humorous style, a long way from the banterverse of much contemporary sports coverage. As he nears the finish of his own Grand Tour it seems apposite to ask the question put to countless out-of-breath stage winners down the years. How does he feel? 'There's a mix of emotions,' Imlach says. 'Sad that it's ending but grateful, too, because you can't complain after a 35-year run from what I initially thought was a freelance job. There's also a sort of a determination: we can't let the fact it's our last Tour get in the way of doing a good job. Inevitably, I've also been thinking about people who are no longer here like [director] Steve Docherty, who shaped the show for so long.' Coolness under pressure is another Imlach attribute; essential when the increasingly fierce French summer heat occasionally causes his iPad to shut down while live on air. How does he describe his approach? 'The first principle of covering TV sport is the first principle of medicine: Do no harm. Don't get in the way of the sport. But if you are going to add something, make sure it's of value.' In 1986, Brian Venner, the show's original executive producer, was tasked with its creation. The core team he assembled has shown remarkable staying power and some of the seasoned crew at Vsquared TV have been involved for decades. A deep well of knowledge, both of the Tour's unique intricacies and creating daily live coverage and highlights shows, is thus brought to bear. 'Adrian Metcalfe, head of sport for Channel 4, asked me to develop it,' Venner says. 'The Tour never had proper coverage in this country. When I worked at the BBC I'd followed a stage and was excited by what I saw, so when Adrian asked me I leapt at the chance. 'We developed various things technically, and things which saved money. We built a truck that had everything: A commentary position in the back, satellite dish on top, the whole thing in one. We even organised a chef. He went out every morning to the markets and came back with lunch.' Brian's son James joined in 1992. With Carolyn Viccari, who began as Brian's assistant and would become executive producer, overseeing complex planning and logistics, James Venner – like Brian an early adopter of new technologies – became a senior producer and remains responsible for the London operation. What makes the Tour special? 'As you get close to it, you realise what an incredibly tough sport it is,' James Venner says. 'It's the incredible scenery, the theatre in which it takes place. And as a challenge in TV, it's as complex as the Olympics but it moves every day. 'Doing any live TV you're on the edge, frankly. With this you're on the edge but you don't know if all the wiring and glue will hold. Professionally it's a tremendous challenge and a very satisfying one. From a sporting point of view it's this immensely hard thing, these brilliant athletes in the most wonderful backdrop.' TV affects cycling like no other sport. Sponsors want exposure, ensuring all those doomed breakaways, and James Venner explains how the introduction of Eurosport's pan-European coverage changed the race in the Lance Armstrong era. 'The teams could watch as they drove around and Armstrong used to play on that, he'd make it look like he was suffering. The camera would come in and get the big shot of him suffering on the climb. Other teams would say on team radio: 'Attack now, he's in trouble!' Then, of course, he wasn't in trouble. He'd forced them to attack too early.' As the end approaches James Venner shares Imlach's sadness. 'Nothing is for ever … You'd like to go on, and there's sadness that the team we've built has got very good at doing it. It's the last time we might see some of them.' Why do those team members, just like fans, become addicted? 'The drug analogy might not be the most diplomatic,' says Imlach. 'It's a three-week drama delivered in daily episodes. There's the bigger overall picture, but every day you have a self-contained story. There are all sorts of layers and complexity but I think anybody can enjoy it.' Imlach's break came via an NFL assignment. 'Mike Miller, Channel 4's commissioning editor for sport in the 80s and 90s, gave me a job doing travelogue pieces on cities where NFL games were played. He said to Brian: 'You should get somebody doing what Gary Imlach's doing on the NFL.' 'Brian took him at his word. I'm not sure it was entirely popular because the highlights were only half an hour and it was mainly hardcore cycling fans watching. I don't think they appreciated some ignoramus popping up with a piece about a fleet of motorised profiteroles in the publicity caravan.' The Tour has had its share of scandals, including the British-branded version involving Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins. Considering how a complex saga developed over time, is there anything Imlach would do differently? 'Hard to tell without going back and double-checking everything,' he says. 'Certainly there isn't just one Sky story. There's the story Sky told about themselves and there's the story that leaked out around the edges. It leaked out after the fact, we addressed it after the fact, but, like everybody else, we didn't get satisfactory answers out of the principals. 'Having declared this project of transparency, when it came to account for the discrepancies between what they'd said and some of the contradictory evidence that subsequently seeped out, Dave Brailsford never really did.' Brailsford denies wrongdoing and appeared at a 2016 House of Commons select committee hearing. There have been speedbumps on the way. It was Channel 4's acquisition of Test cricket that prompted the move to ITV in 2001. Like Test cricket the world's greatest bike race will soon move behind a paywall. The good news for cycling fans and Francophiles across the UK, though, is that Imlach and co have a final crack at it. When the race rolls out from Lille on 5 July, for one last time, sit back and enjoy the ride.
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
Alcaraz, Sinner, Sabalenka and Swiatek top Wimbledon bill but have work cut out
About three hours and 45 minutes into his duel with Carlos Alcaraz three weeks ago, Jannik Sinner lowered himself into his return stance for what he hoped would be the last rally of a near-flawless fortnight. Sinner held three championship points for what would be one of the most monumental victories of his career. Just one of those three would have earned him a first grand slam title away from hard courts and redefined the terms of engagement with Alcaraz, the only player to beat him for 10 months. Sinner would then have drawn level with the Spaniard on four grand slam titles. The margins that determine success have always been precarious but few occasions exemplified this like Paris. Instead of Sinner reinforcing his status as the world's best, Alcaraz produced another legendary moment in his young career with one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Although the Italian remains No 1 and the best player in the world based on his performances over the past year, on the eve of Wimbledon Alcaraz is the player to beat. Since Roland Garros, the momentum and good vibes surrounding the champion have only increased. He followed his three-day interlude in Ibiza by winning at Queen's Club for a second time. While he still considers clay his favourite surface, the 22-year-old's grass record is astounding. He has amassed 29 wins and three defeats, winning 25 of his past 26 matches on the surface. He has more grass-court titles – four – than losses. He heads into Wimbledon as the clear favourite and will attempt to become the fifth man in the Open era to win the singles title three times in a row. It will take time for Sinner, who is nine months older, to come to terms with the French Open defeat, which was still playing on his mind when he lost in the second round of the Halle Open last week to Alexander Bublik. But another grand slam tournament also provides him with an opportunity to forge ahead with fresh motivation. Alcaraz and Sinner have shared the past six grand slam titles, shutting out the rest of the field and until there is a significant shift, it is difficult to choose the rest of the field over these two players. Novak Djokovic, however, continues to relish the challenge of trying to disrupt the youngsters. At the age of 38 he has clearly been third-best player at the grand slams this year, reaching two semi-finals, with victories over Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev. On grass, where the seven-time Wimbledon champion's understanding of the surface is second to none and the faster conditions are more helpful to his ageing body, Wimbledon has always represented his biggest opportunity of becoming the oldest slam champion in the Open era. It is clear that Jack Draper will command the most attention at the beginning. The Briton's past year has been remarkable, with the 23-year-old rising from No 40 to No 4, winning his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and reaching his first slam semi-final at the US Open. Draper has everything he could possibly want to make a deep run on the grass – a well-rounded, increasingly complete game and his destructive lefty serve and forehand are well-suited to the fast surface. While most British players have some sort of early breakthrough at Wimbledon, Draper, at 23, has never passed the second round and his success has come on foreign shores. He has never experienced the pressure and attention that comes with being a top home player and genuine contender on Centre Court. In the long run, Draper has the character and single-minded focus to handle these situations and produce his best tennis but the coming week will be a fascinating test of his character and current readiness for these moments. The women's draw is shrouded in even more uncertainty. Aryna Sabalenka has clearly established herself as the top player but, like Sinner, she arrives at Wimbledon with her ego bruised after her dramatic three-set defeat to Coco Gauff in the French Open final. Her tactless comments after the defeat, and the backlash they generated, only made things even more difficult for her. The Belarusian remains the favourite to win a first Wimbledon title, where the grass aids her ultra-offensive shotmaking. Beyond Sabalenka, there is even less clarity. Gauff has solidified herself as a true championship player by winning her second slam in Paris. However, despite her breakthrough run coming at Wimbledon, when she reached the fourth round from qualifying on her slam debut as a 15-year-old, the American, now 21, has struggled to find her best on grass. Iga Swiatek's difficulties on grass are similarly well established but, with every year, the former world No 1 does appear to grow more comfortable. After an extremely difficult period on court this year, she did leave Roland Garros with her head held high despite her dominance in Paris coming to an end after her semi-final loss to Sabalenka. As is often the case, contenders could come from anywhere. Five months on from her stunning triumph at the Australian Open, Madison Keys remains effective both on grass and at slams. Mirra Andreeva's improved serve should make her even more dangerous this year. In a sport where the margins are so tight, and there are so many players capable of performing at a high level on their day, this Wimbledon may well be decided by whoever truly rises to the occasion when they most need to.
