Kipyegon’s world mile, Clarke’s world U20 400m hurdles records ratified

Faith Kipyegon’s world mile record and Roshawn Clarke’s world U20 400m hurdles record, both set earlier this year, have now been ratified.

Kipyegon set three world records on the track this year, the first two coming within a week of each other as she clocked 3:49.11 for 1500m in Florence, then 14:05.20 for 5000m in Paris.

Several weeks later, she lined up for the mile at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco with one goal in mind.

On a hot and humid evening, Kipyegon did not allow anything to distract her from her task. She locked in immediately to the world record pace being marked by flashing lights inside the track and relaxed into an easy rhythm for three laps, passing through 800m in 2:04.6 and 1000m in 2:35.6.

At the bell she charged out like a prize fighter, punching the world record into the dust with every stride. The pacing lights were a distant second as she skimmed around the track to stop the clock in 4:07.64, more than four seconds faster than the standard her long-term rival Sifan Hassan set on the same track on 12 July 2019 (4:12.33).

“I really enjoyed the race,” said Kipyegon, who passed through the 1500m point in 3:51.41. “I came for that, I wanted to chase the world record.”

She won by almost seven seconds – more than half the length of the straight – despite three women behind her setting area records, six setting national records and 11 setting PBs.

Clarke enjoyed a phenomenal breakthrough season in 2023, culminating with a world U20 record and a fourth-place finish at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.

At the start of the year, his PB stood at 49.35, which he set en route to taking bronze at the 2022 World U20 Championships. He broke his PB in mid-May, then made two further revisions at the senior Jamaican Championships in July, clocking 48.91 in the heats and 47.85 in the final on 7 July, the latter equalling the world U20 record set by USA’s Sean Burrell on 11 June 2021.

His progress continued at the World Championships. After advancing through his heat, he went on to finish second in his semifinal in a world U20 record of 47.34 – a time that would have been good enough for gold at many past editions of the championships.

In the final one day later, Clarke finished fourth in 48.07 and beat some of the best 400m hurdlers in the world.

Credit: World Athletics