The 2025 Prefontaine Classic shattered world records on Saturday, as a pair of long- and middle-distance runners showed their class in a historic track and field meet.
On a day that international governing body World Athletics called the sport's best-ever single-day of competition — with the 2025 Prefontaine Classic seeing more performance points earned than in any other one-day meet in track and field history — two Kenyan stars rose above the rest.
Saturday saw Faith Kipyegon hit a personal best of 3:48.68 in the 1,500-meter race to break through her own world record by a 0.36-second margin.
The 31-year-old, who holds the last three Olympic titles in the event, claimed the new historic time less than two weeks removed from her first attempt to break the four-minute mile mark — a distance just 109 meters farther than the standard 1,500-meter race.
The Prefontaine Classic also saw fellow Kenyan Beatrice Chebet become the first woman to race 5,000 meters in under 14 minutes, with the 25-year-old breaking the barrier by turning in a world record time of 13:58.06 — shaving more than two seconds off Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay's previous world mark of 14:00.21.
"I'm so happy," Chebet said afterward. "After [the June Diamond League meet in] Rome, I say that I am capable of running a world record so let me go back home and prepare… I told myself, 'if Faith [Kipyegon] is trying for a world record in Eugene, why not me too?'"
Along with the 5,000-meter mark, Chebet also holds the 10,000-meter record — as well as 2024 Olympic gold medals in both events.
Meanwhile, US hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone snagged sprinting headlines with a season-best time of 49.43 seconds to win the 400-meter flat race, continuing her progress as a flat runner after years dominating the 400-meter hurdles.
Three-time 1,500-meter Olympic gold medalist Faith Kipyegon fell just short of making running history on Thursday, as the middle-distance star clocked a time of 4:06.42 in her attempt to become the first woman to break the four-minute mile.
"It was the first trial. I have proven that it's possible and it's only a matter of time. I think it will come to our way," said Kipyegon following Thursday's race. "If it's not me, it will be somebody else."
Still the fastest mile-runner of any woman in history, the Kenyan icon did beat her own previous world record of 4:07.64 by 1.22 seconds, though the time won't count as a new record as the race came during Nike's unofficial Breaking4 event.
With full support from the sportswear giant — the 31-year-old's partner for 16 years — Kipyegon had the benefit of multiple pace-setters, as well as an aerodynamic suit, 3D-printed Nike FlyWeb sports bra, and spiked shoes made specifically for the much-hyped four-minute mile attempt at Paris's Stade Charléty.
"Faith didn't just make history, she proved the future of sport is faster, stronger, and more inclusive than ever," noted Nike president Amy Montagne after Kipyegon's race.
"It was tough, but I am so proud of what I've done, and I'm going to keep on trying, dreaming and pursing big goals," said Kipyegon. "I want to show the world, and especially women, that you have to dare to try."
Entering Friday’s Florence Diamond League meet, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon was already considered the best women’s 1500-meter runner in history. She won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the event in 2016 and 2021, plus world titles in 2017 and 2022.
But the 29-year-old Kenyan solidified her G.O.A.T. status by clocking 3 minutes, 49.11 seconds to take nearly a second off the women’s 1500m world record. The previous mark, set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in 2015, was 3:50.07.
“This was really important because this was something I was still missing in my career,” Kipyegon said. “Getting this, it will really motivate me. I left the legacy for the next generation – they can say she broke the world record, she was the Olympic and the world champion.”
Kipyegon is one of the most well-respected track and field athletes currently competing — and it showed on Friday. All of her competitors — including 2021 Olympic silver medalist Laura Muir — gathered around her to celebrate the accomplishment.
After the race, Kipyegon — who gave birth to daughter Alyn in June 2018 — dedicated her world record to “all the mothers.”
The world record was on Kipyegon’s mind entering Florence. Unlike at the Olympics and world championships, Diamond League races use pacers who help facilitate fast marks.
“After 1000 (meters), when the pacemaker went out, I just pushed myself towards the finish line,” Kipyegon said. “That was what my manager told me – anything is possible – after the pacemaker, just run your race. And that is what I did.”
Kipyegon nearly broke the world record last August, missing it by 0.3 seconds at a Diamond League stop in Monaco.
SHE SMASHED THE WORLD RECORD! 🤯
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) June 2, 2023
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon breaks the world record in the women's 1500m with a time of 3:49.11. #FlorenceDL pic.twitter.com/NmEevPjazd