FAITH KIPYEGON DESTROYS 1500 METER WORLD RECORD

WHAT A WEEK OF TRACK AND FIELD!

The Florence Diamond League was one of the most anticipated meets in recent weeks and it certainly did not disappoint as we were treated to a world record in the women’s 1500 meters by two-time Olympic champion and two-time world champion Faith Kipyegon in 3:49.11. We also witnessed an epic men’s 5000 meter race that saw a record-breaking 13 men dip under 13 minutes and Fred Kerley remained undefeated in the men’s 100 meters with a 9.94s victory.

Here’s the best of CITIUS MAG from this past week:

FAITH KIPYEGON DESTROYS 1500M WR

Kipyegon became the first woman to get under 3:50 for 1500 meters. Coming into the race, she was already considered by us to be the women’s 1500 meter GOAT and it was only a matter of time until she broke Genzebe Dibaba’s world record from 2015. At 29 years old, she is still in the prime of her career. Read our recap and takeaways from the race.

Kipyegon took 22 months away from the sport to have her first child in 2018. After her victory in Florence, she dedicated the victory to mothers.

13 MEN BREAK 13 MINUTES IN FLORENCE 5K

At the bell lap, everyone was still in the mix for this race. Spain’s Mohamed Katir, the world championship bronze medalist in the 1500 meters, managed to outlean Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha at the finish line. Woody Kincaid was the top American in 12:54.40 with Joe Klecker right behind him in 12:55.16. Here is our recap of the race with interviews and quotes from Luis Grijalva, Joshua Cheptegei, Moh Ahmed and Joe Klecker.

We also tagged along with Klecker on his shakeout run before the race and put together a short video.

More from Florence including interviews with:

• Anna Hall after running a 400m hurdles PR just 5 days after her heptathlon performance in Gotzis 

• Femke Bol explains her new hurdling technique for 2023

• Erriyon Knighton is just focused on winning all the way to USAs

• Trayvon Bromell revealed he was injured in March until the Rabat Diamond League 

• Cory McGee reacts to being part of Kipyegon’s world record race

• Fred Kerley announced he is running the NYC Grand Prix 

4 HS BOYS BREAK 4 MINUTES IN SAME RACE

For the first time in history, we saw four high school boys break four minutes for the mile in the same race as Simeon Birnbaum ran 3:57.53 to win the Festival of Miles in St. Louis. He said he wanted to attack Alan Webb’s high school mile record but fell well short of that. His time is the fourth-fastest in high school history. Behind him, Rocky Hansen (3:58.23), Tinoda Matsatsa (3:58.70) and Jackson Heidesch (3:59.08) also got under the barrier. Matsatsa and Heidesch became the 19th and 20th U.S. high school boys to break four minutes for the mile. Matsatsa is the first Black high school boy to accomplish the feat. Read our recap and takes from the race here.

Watch our interviews with:

Simeon Birnbaum | Rocky Hansen | Tinoda Matsatsa | Jackson Heidesch

Other news from the week:

– Jakob Ingebrigtsen is targeting the men’s two-mile record at the Paris Diamond League.

– Kelvin Kiptum and Brigid Kosgei headline Athletics Kenya’s world championship marathon team selections.

– Anna Hall moved up to No. 5 on the all-time heptathlon list with 6988 points to win the Götzis Hypomeeting in Austria.

This weekend’s coverage:

– We just had David McCarthy and Johnny Pace in Florence. They will be headed to France next for the Paris Diamond League on June 9 and the On Track Nights: Paris meet on June 10. The CITIUS MAG Euro Tour continues.

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🙏 Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez)