Latest news with #womenInSports
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Sport
- 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
18 hours ago
- Sport
- 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 sponsors Nike, who had hoped that aerodynamic skinsuits, lighter superspikes 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 06.22sec in Paris, Kipyegon insisted that 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 the 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 that she would 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 next week, and she insists she is in shape to challenge her world record of 3min 49sec. However she said there are no plans yet to have another crack at the four-minute mile barrier. Meanwhile in Paris she also spoke to Hodgkinson, who told her she is hungry to go faster in the future once she has recovered from a hamstring injury. 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 '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.' 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.'
CNN
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNN
Faith Kipyegon, in attempt to break 4-minute-mile barrier, finishes in 4:06.42 – faster than her world record in the event
Faith Kipyegon on Thursday fell short in her quest to become the first woman in history to run a four-minute mile, clocking a time of 4:06.42 at a Nike-organized event in Paris. Kipyegon ran more than a second faster than her own world record of 4:07.64, which she set in 2023, but Thursday's performance didn't count as an official time. A four-minute mile would have been the latest achievement in the 31-year-old Kipyegon's glittering career, adding to her three Olympic gold medals and four world titles – all but one of which have come in the 1,500 meters. 'Exhausted. I'm tired, but I feel good I've tried,' Kipyegon said. 'That is why I was coming here to try to be the first woman to run under four minutes, but I have proven that it is possible. 'It's only a matter of time that I think it will come our way. If it's not me, it'll be somebody else. I know one day, one time, a woman will run under four. I will not lose hope. I will still go for it. I hope I will get one day, one time.' Running in an aerodynamic suit and a new pair of super-light Nike spikes, Kipyegon was supported by pacemakers on the Charléty Stadium track in Paris – all of which were intended to maximize her performance over the mile. Following the attempt in front of a cheering crowd, Kipyegon offered an inspiring message to young girls and women watching. 'I think I will tell them, we are not limited. We can limit ourselves through thoughts, but I think we are possible to try everything in our lives and prove to the world that we are strong and we keep pushing,' she said. Even with those conditions in place, shaving almost eight seconds from her official world record was judged to have been a tall order by many, particularly over a distance defined by ultra-fine margins. The event, which Nike called Breaking4, is similar to the two events organized around Eliud Kipchoge's attempt to run a sub-two-hour marathon for the first time. Kipchoge fell short in his first attempt in Monza, Italy, in 2017, an event hosted by Nike and labeled Breaking2. However, he successfully ran 1:59.40 for the 26.2-mile distance in Vienna, Austria, two years later while being backed by petrochemical company Ineos. Like Thursday's mile performance of his fellow Kenyan, Kipchoge's run didn't count as an official world record, though he remains the only man to run a sub-two-hour marathon. He was in attendance Thursday for Kipyegon's effort. A four-minute mile has long been recognized as an iconic landmark in running, first achieved by Great Britain's Roger Bannister in 1954. Today, sub-four-minute miles are commonplace in men's running, with New Zealander Sam Ruthe recently becoming the youngest person to do it at the age of 15 earlier this year. On top of winning her third straight 1,500-meter title at the Paris Olympics last year, the Kenyan also won a silver in the 5,000 meters, taking her career medal tally to four at the Olympics and six at the world championships.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Erin Andrews praises Taylor Swift on spiking women NFL viewers
The post Erin Andrews praises Taylor Swift on spiking women NFL viewers appeared first on ClutchPoints. Erin Andrews is not only a friend of Taylor Swift but is also inspired by her impact in the sports world. Advertisement Andrews, who hosts America's Game of the Week and has the Calm Down podcast with fellow sports broadcaster Charissa Thompson, says that there has been a rise in women interested in her show since the singer's romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. 'Our ratings are up for women, which is huge for us. What's really cool is women aren't as afraid. Listen, 'America's Game of the Week,' which is the game I do on Sundays, the demographic is split down the middle. It's like the highest-rated show for women out there, which is amazing for us,' Andrews said at The Cannes Lions 2025 Festival of Creativity, per Awful Announcing. She added that women aren't 'afraid' anymore to watch sports thanks to the 'Taylor Swift effect.' 'But I think the casual fan doesn't feel as afraid to watch professional sports right now, watch the NFL because, well, our girl Taylor helped out with that. It's cool. Which, we're excited. We want casual fans, we want fans that know a lot. Listen to the podcast, watch our broadcasts, we'll help teach you the game.' Back in February, Marissa Solis, the NFL's senior vice president of global brand and consumer marketing at the NFL shared that women and young girls are among a high percentage of men's and women's professional sports. Advertisement 'Football is the No. 1 sport among women in the U.S., and we keep growing,' says Solis. 'I mean 68% of all women and girls in the U.S. are fans of the league.' 'Our currency is relevance,' she says. 'And we have to be relevant to all sorts of audiences, to young people, to women and to multicultural audiences.' 'I think the Taylor effect, as many people call it, obviously boosted our audience,' Solis says. 'We love Taylor. She's a huge icon among that audience. But we were already growing with that audience before that. I think she just helped us and came at the right time.' Swift debuted her relationship with Kelce in 2023 when she attended a Chiefs game in September of that year. Since they've been dating, Swift has been present at several Chiefs games home and away as well as big moments for the team such as the Chiefs 2024 Super Bowl win and their 2025 AFC Championship win. Advertisement Last year, Flora Kelly, ESPN's vice president of brand strategy and content research weighed in on the impact of Swift and Kelce's relationship and shared that it was comparable to the additional visibility to 'Caitlin Clark sparking what we saw with women's college basketball.' While Kelly noted that Swift has had an impact in the NFL she is not the sole reason why there has been a spike in viewers. 'It is, again, the first year I've ever seen this, where you're starting to see culture and social media really spark that attention factor. And I wouldn't just isolate it to Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.' Related: CashNasty's dream comes true, meets LeBron James thanks to Kai Cenat assist Related: Drake loses astronomical $800K on Thunder Game 6 bet
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Linda McMahon opens up on ongoing battle to combat trans inclusion in women's sports
Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke to Fox News Digital during a tour stop during the Independent Women's Forum bus tour in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Monday. McMahon has been a key figure in the Trump administration's mission to counter trans athlete inclusion in women's and girls' sports, directing the Department of Education to launch several Title IX investigations into institutions that have enabled incidents to occur. Five months into her position, McMahon has helped spearhead the formation of a new federal Title IX Investigations team in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice. Meanwhile, the ongoing national culture war over the issue burns hotter than it ever has. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt and prominent conservative influencer Riley Gaines are among those on the right who have suggested potential criminal prosecution for officials who allow biological males to compete in women's and girls' sports. The recent high school sports season has featured several instances of female athletes protesting and demonstrating against transgender opponents, whether it be forfeits or medal podium stunts, in a growing viral trend. Fox News Digital (FND): What is your stance on the idea of criminal prosecution coming to officials who don't enforce Title IX and allow [biological] males to compete in girls' sports? McMahon: "I haven't actually addressed that with the Department of Justice, but it's certainly something that if the president would like us to look into it, we certainly would." FND: Going into [the next high school sports season], how important do you think it is that high school girl athletes make an effort to demonstrate against Democrat state lawmakers that don't enforce Title IX? McMahon: "I think it's very important, it's one of the things that I mentioned today when I was delivering my remarks to this group. I congratulated those young women for taking such a stand and I encouraged them to continue to do that. "Because that's what's going to make a difference, is to have these women athletes and these girl athletes who are really very strong and deserve the right to be able to play in the sport of their choice, but to compete against girls, because it's just an unfair playing field otherwise."And they have to stand up for their own rights. And also know that we're going to be standing behind them." FND: What can states [like California, Maine and Minnesota] expect in the second half of the year now that we're going on four to five months since President Trump signed the [Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports] executive order and they're still not following it? McMahon: "They run the risk of having their federal funding withdrawn. That's the main thing that's on the table. We have a task for that the Department of Education is doing with the Department of Justice to investigate Title IX violations and that's what we're doing. So the penalties are on the table for those that we find to be in violation." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
