By Hannah Bonnie
Faith Kipyegon outraced a very talented field — which included four athletes who had broken 4 minutes for the 1,500 meters — Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic to claim a personal record, Hayward Field record and Kenyan national record in 3 minutes, 56.41 seconds, the best time in the world this year.
The previous Hayward Field record, which was 3:57.05, was set by fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri during the 2014 Pre Classic. Earlier this year, Kipyegon had also broken the Kenyan national record and her personal record at a Diamond League meet in Shanghai with a time of 3:56.82.
“I was not expecting to run in Pre like I did in Shanghai, but I felt good, and it was a good race,” said Kipyegon.
During the 2012 London Olympics, Kipyegon represented Kenya but failed to qualify for the finals. This year, she hopes to change that outcome, but first she must make the team.
“I have the confidence to run and make the team to Rio,” said Kipyegon. “I come from tough competition, you know. I’ll have easy training for the trials.”
Kipyegon led for the majority of the race and began pulling away from the pack with a lap to go. Behind her for half of the race was Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay; however, during the second half of the race, fellow Ethiopian Dawit Seyaum pulled ahead. They finished third and second, respectively.
Both of the Ethiopians topped their personal records by about a second. Tsegay finished in 3:58.1, while Seyaum finished in 4:00.18.
Behind them was American Jenny Simpson with a time of 4:01.57. Last year, Simpson had won the Pre Classic, but this year yielded different results.
“It’s tough,” she said. “You know a year ago, I was in this position last year, but I felt really confident going straight to the front and kind of taking control. And that’s not here yet, and I miss it.”
She was by far the fastest American in the field. Shelby Houlihan finished seventh in 4:03.39, Brenda Martinez finished eighth in 4:03.57 and Shannon Rowbury, the American record holder, finished 10th in 4:04.65.
Despite her finish, Simpson remains optimistic.
“I feel more happy about it than I look and I should,” said Simpson. “I’m not disappointed with the time. I think the time is good.”
Simpson is optimistic because she still has weeks to prepare for the Olympic trials. She believes that her result means that she hasn’t peaked too early.
“Four or five weeks from now,” she said, “I’m really going to be in a real control mode.”
