Faith Kipyegon Not Even Close to Sub 4

The negativity on this thread is shocking, but not surprising.

In the "olden days" of the 1990s, we used to complain that "track was dying" and "track wasn't popular." Now, here we are, +30 years later, and when people try something that is amazing, fun, different, or which includes "gimmicks" or big money, people are still complaining.

Faith Kipyegon is awesome. Michael Johnson is trying something. Kipchoge crossed over into the mainstream with Breaking-2. Mondo vs. Wahrholm was fun.

We have to be allowed to do things (like time trials with 11 pacers) that aren't just regular track meets. Sheesh, what else should Faith have been doing this Spring? Winning Ostrava in 3:55? That is boring.

To the innovators, I will always say congratulations and keep it up!

That won't happen. This race actually did a lot for women's sport in that regard. The men looked like they were jogging (while clapping and cheering) while Faith was rigging up. This provided a ton of context for what the female body, with essentially zero testosterone, can do. (And to be honest, it was super impressive. Can you imagine what your PRs would be if you had zero testosterone?)

So if a DSD or trans-athlete tried to claim this accomplishment, I think Faith's run yesterday will remind people of the obvious differences. Faith can be proud of what she did and women can appreciate her for putting a line in the sand as to the current limits of female performance.

p.s. What does "or else" mean? It isn't 2018 anymore. The cultural ascendancy of the "woke" is long gone. I see bigots and bullies on the news every day and nothing is happening to their reputations or careers, so I don't know what "or else" means at this point.

I have to shake my head at this.... "Some trans male" is going to have to be a male who can run a sub four... and if the "trans male" is actually taking hormones and that kind of thing... it would have to be a male who was way under four minutes.

So you have a pretty limited pool of people who could actually do this in the first place. And you have an even more limited pool of people who would actually WANT to do this.

My biggest aggravation with conservative anti-trans types this controversy is that they think some dude is going to roll off his couch... decide he wants to break four... and go do it.

I can't tell you how many conservative dudes I know who think they could just walk out whip any woman in the octagon, just walk out and beat Caitlin Clark one on one, walk out and whip any LPGA woman in a golf match... so of course they could walk out and beat Faith Kipyegon in a mile. Probably wouldn't even have to train.

Why did this post get up votes? It’s an impossible scenario.

Were there trees INSIDE the stadium?

I haven't been this disappointed by something so hyped up since Geraldo Rivera blasted Al Capone's vault.

It certainly wasn’t a perfect day and I don’t think Faith was in her top condition. She probably could’ve gave it a better go in 2023 or last year (and she’s 31 now). Also, we don’t know how she was feeling on the day.

It’s interesting, she appeared to be very nervous at the beginning. Even more so than a regular big-time race which I’ve watched her in many times.

Pressure, conditions, possibly not being in top fitness or being in peak condition on a given day. I believe if everything is optimal she could go much faster than she did.

anyway, it was interesting. Somewhat entertaining despite the cringe worthy announcing at times. I guess it gets people talking about track and field. Just look at how it lit up the message board. Also several articles in media outlets from around the world. I just feel kind of bad for her because she, for sure is gonna feel like this is some sort of failure on her part.

The women's 800m record is 1:53. A woman runs an incredible time 4:06 that would have been unimaginable 10 years ago and you guys are just so negative about it. I don't take anything any loser on the internet says seriously anymore, because it's all inherently tinged by your negative and faulty dispositions.

As the deletions on these Kipyegon threads show, only posts that affirm this Nike pr stunt are allowed to stay up. Letsrun has become a cheerleader for this circus.

Every single person who has broken the 4 minute mile could break the current women’s 800m record and 3000m record, and run at a minimum 52. for 400m.

I was impressed by her performance. You could tell she was already straining hard by halfway. She genuinely went for it and put herself in position for a sub-4 with a truly heroic last lap. I expected her to completely fall apart on the last lap, but she is tough as nails.

She's 31. I doubt she can run 4:07 anymore. She also may have been having a rough day. Sub-4 was never happening, but I suspect that the Faith Kipyegon who ran 4:07 might have been able to run 4:03 in these conditions.

We already had a human run under 4:00, why do we care is some sub-category of humans also does it? She should concentrate on a record no other human has broken.

I couldn't be bothered by some other country landing on the moon. It was already done, do something new.

You sure post obsessively about something you dislike so much.

I havent been paying much attention to this record attempt. Now that I am, in hindsight it seems ridiculous to expect a woman to run four consecutive 60 second laps

No, but the breeze looked strong enough in the tree tops to swirl around the stadium enough to make a difference.

She should have consistently time trialed 3 quarters of a mile in 3 min flat. I mean consistently. Instead she swam into deep waters and we all know what happened from there.

What a total failure. What will they think of next?

Correct. She was thru 1320y in 3:03 flat (3:01.84 at 1200m).

A brave effort! Clearly, she had no intention of hitting the splits posted the other day.

2:58.8 at 1200m would have been suicide.