Faith Kipyegon made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by becoming the first athlete ever to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 1,500m event.
She also secured a silver medal in the 5,000m earlier in the week. READ FULL STORY
In the 1,500m final on Saturday, Kipyegon produced a fearless run on the last lap to clock a time of 3:51.29, taking two seconds off the Olympic record she set in Tokyo 2020.
She finished ahead of Australia’s Jessica Hull, who took silver with a time of 3:52.56, and Great Britain’s Georgia Bell, who earned bronze with a national record of 3:52.61.
Earlier in the week, Kipyegon finished second in the 5,000m event, earning a silver medal.
Despite the dramatic race taking a lot of energy from her mentally, she was able to recover and execute a dominant performance in the 1,500m final.
Kipyegon’s achievements cement her status as one of the greatest middle-distance runners of all time, and she has now won a total of five Olympic medals throughout her illustrious career.
For her exemplary performance at the Olympics, Kipyegon will be awarded Ksh 5 million from the government and Ksh 6.5 million from World Athletics.
After winning the gold medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kipyegon expressed overwhelming joy and gratitude.
She celebrated her victory, signalling the crowd to cheer and punched the air in triumph.
In her post-race comments, Kipyegon reflected on the challenges she faced earlier in the week, particularly the emotional toll of the 5,000 meters race.
She thanked her supporters, including her coach and family, for their encouragement.
Kipyegon emphasized her aim to make history and expressed immense happiness for achieving her goal, stating, “This is history. I managed to make history. I’ve done it. This is an amazing honor”.
World Athletics to pay Olympic gold medalists
In a historic move, World Athletics announced it will become the first international federation to award prize money at the Olympic Games, starting at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Each individual gold medalist in the 48 athletics events will receive $50,000, totaling a prize pool of $2.4 million.
Relay teams will receive the same amount, to be shared equally among the team members.
This initiative also includes a commitment to extend prize money to Olympic silver and bronze medalists at the LA 2028 Games.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe stated this decision underscores their commitment to empowering athletes and recognizing their critical role in the success of the Olympic Games.
It continues a journey started in 2015 to ensure all revenues generated by athletes at the Olympics are directly returned to them.
However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has distanced itself from this move, stating international federations should focus on reducing inequalities between countries rather than handing out prizes to winners.
The IOC believes national Olympic committees should decide on athlete prizes as motivation, not the federations.
