World record holder Faith Kipyegon has successfully defended her world title over 1500 m.
The Kenyan won a thrilling final for gold in Budapest on Tuesday in 3:54.87 minutes, ahead of Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji (3:55.69) and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands (3:56.00), despite consistently leading the way.
Three days after her bitter “belly clapping” over the 10,000m, Hassan missed the hoped-for gold coup. The Olympic champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 m fell on Saturday while she was on course for gold on the home stretch, after which she made allegations against winner Gudaf Tsegay: the Ethiopian had pushed her.
Kipyegon, a mother since 2018, caused a bang with two world records within eight days last June. First over 1500 m (3:49.11) and then over 5000 m (14:05.20) the Kenyan screwed down two records – now she added her third world title to her successful collection after two Olympic gold medals.