Faith Kipyegon Will Attempt To Become First Woman To Break 4-Minute Mile With Space Age Running Gear From Nike

Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon is the fastest woman in history at running a mile. She already holds the world record for the fastest mile ran by a woman at 4:07.64 which is nearly 5 full seconds faster than the second-fastest mile ever ran by a woman in competition.

England’s Roger Bannister famously became the first human being to break the 4-minute mile barrier when he ran a 3:59.4 in Oxford on May 6, 1954. Since then, that world record line has moved 18 times on the men’s side all the way down to 3:43.13 but the 4-minute barrier for women has by and large been viewed as an unbreakable barrier in the decades since Roger Bannister’s record-setting run.

Now, Faith Kipyegon is set to break the record on June 26th at the Stade Charlety in Paris. It has been two years since she set the women’s mile world record at 4:07.64 in Monaco and Faith has never been more ready to break the 4-minute barrier than she is now.

There’s more below on the mind-bending tech she will rely on to break the 4-minute mile world record but first, this video from Sportsball on TikTok really puts this record into context and how incredible it will be if Faith Kipyegon succeeds. This is the clip that turned me onto her upcoming world record attempt and got me excited for it:

Faith Kipyegon Will Have Some Help From Nike In Breaking 4-Minute Mile Barrier

Faith Kipyegon is a world record holder in the mile and the 1,500-meter, a 3x Olympic champ in the 1,500-meter, and she didn’t get to where she’s at alone. They say ‘it takes a village’ and for her attempt at breaking the 4-minute barrier, Faith worked with Nike’s Sport Research Lab to create some incredible gear that will give her an edge on the track.

Nike published a Newsroom press release the other day detailing what they cooked up for Faith Kipyegon in the lab, describing it as “a first-of-its kind speed suit, a sports bra made of a revolutionary 3D-printed performance material, and a featherweight spike that turns the dial on innovative features up to 11.”

Essentially, Faith needs to shave 7.65 seconds off her existing world record in order to become the first woman to run a sub 4-minute mile. In order to do that Nike believes everything Faith wears from her bodysuit to her bra to her shoes need to work in concert in order to help her.

Faith’s Nike Fly Suit

First up is Kipyegon’s Fly Suit from Nike. They say their aim was to create “the most aerodynamic speed suit in running history.” Faith will be running at 15 MPH when she is in a full sprint and the suit is designed to fight the pockets of air (eddies) that will build up behind her as she’s sprinting and slow her down.

In order to reduce those physical forces working against Faith Kipyegon as she sprints to glory, Nike came up with incredible materials and designed to specifically to work with her body but it’s the Nike Aeronodes that are the real game changers. They describe those as:

Nike’s star innovation feature in mitigating air forces are the Nike Aeronodes. These half spheres vary in size; some are smaller than a pencil tip. The Aeronodes are strategically placed on the suit to accomplish two goals: split the air in front of Kipyegon and create smaller eddies behind her to reduce drag. Put another way, the job of the Aeronodes is to keep the wind “attached” to Kipyegon, or streamlined to her body, says Lisa Gibson, Senior Project Manager for Apparel Innovation. Without them, the wind whipping behind Kipyegon gets ‘noisy and nasty.'”

Everything Faith Kipyegon Will Be Wearing From Nike

She will also be wearing a The Nike FlyWeb Bra, a one-of-one creation that was made specifically for Faith Kipyegon’s attempt. It will provide her with more range of motion, has been optimized for moisture management, and it outperforms any other textile tested.

On her feet, Faith Kipyegon will be wearing the Nike Victory Elite FK spikes. She wore the Nike Victory 2’s for her three-peat 2024 gold medal at the Olympics but Nike’s research team was already looking at ways to improve upon the spikes at that time and the Victory Elite FK spikes were the end result.

Faith Kipyegon’s attempt at becoming the first woman in history to break the 4-minute mile will take place on June 26th and Nike will stream it on their YouTube, Instagram and TikTok as well as on Amazon Prime. So make sure to mark it on your calendar!