Kenyan continues her extraordinary year by becoming the first woman to win the 1500m and 5000m world titles at one championships

Its one thing to break world records in Diamond League meetings and Faith Kipyegon has been doing plenty of that in jaw-dropping style this summer but its quite another to win gold medals in the furnace of championships battle. In Budapest, the Kenyan has done that, too. Twice.

No woman had ever won both 1500m and 5000m gold at a World Championships but the 29-year-old changed all of that with a blistering finish over the longer distance on Saturday night (August 26).

Kipyegon won a closing burn-up battle with Sifan Hassan to cross the line in 14:53.88, seeing off the Dutch athlete (14:54.11) to win the first world 5000m title of her career.

Kenyas 2022 silver medallist and reigning world cross country champion Beatrice Chebet took bronze in 14:54.33, while Ethiopias 10,000m champion Gudaf Tsegay ultimately faded to a surprise 13^th in 15:01.13.

Much like her training partner Eliud Kipchoge has been rewriting the rules of marathon running, Kipyegon is doing likewise in pushing limits on the track. Three times in 2023 has she experienced that world record-breaking feeling, first destroying the 1500m mark with a run of 3:49.11 in early June, dismantling the 5000m standard with 14:05.20 a week later and then taking down the mile in 4:07.64 last month.

Each of those performances involved pacemakers and Wavelight technology, but Kipyegon has spent this week in Hungary underlining her range of skills. How much had been taken out of her by winning that 1500m gold was an intriguing factor but, curiously, her main opponents decided not to test Kipyegon early, content simply to sit and wait.

With the temperature at 30 degrees centigrade and on a night when spectators were sweating heavily while just sitting still, the field opted to bide their time and take a more cagey, pedestrian approach.

The two-time Olympic champions finishing speed has been well known for some time now, however, and this was playing into her hands. Kipyegon was at the head of affairs with two laps to go and began to accelerate. By then Hassan, who had been sitting further back in the pack for much of the race, had appeared on her shoulder in a bid to use her own lethal kick.

It was with 600m to go, though, that the leader put her foot to the floor and began the true race for home. Tsegay, perhaps suffering the after effects of that memorable 25-lap victory on opening night, couldnt stay with the break which began to rip around the track.

Hassan did as much as she possibly could to apply the pressure but Kipyegon was not to be beaten. Having closed her 1500m win with a final lap of 56.63, astonishingly she completed this race in a final 400m of 56.59 that also include a closing 200m sprint of 27.12.

This has been an amazing year for me, said Kipyegon, who was already talking about her next medal pursuit the mile at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga in October in her post-race press conference.

Making history today, winning two gold medals in a championships is what I was dreaming for this season. I have been pushing myself to the limits and I will continue to push myself in the future.

The race was not easy. It was a tactical one but I am mentally stable and have managed to push myself.

For Hassan, third in the 1500m, this was also a second medal-winning performance of these championships. The woman who won the London Marathon in such extraordinary style in April will now turn her attention towards a second attempt at the 26.2-mile event, in Chicago, this autumn.

These championships have taught me a lot, said Hassan who also had to pick herself up off the floor to finish 11^th in the 10,000m final. They have given me more confidence because I moved to the marathon this year and for two years Ive hardly done any speed work at all. How I was able to sprint at the end I dont know.

I really felt amazing on the last lap and it was only in the last 20 metres I couldnt hold on. Faith was stronger than me today. Shes just broken world records and this year is better than me but I know where I am at.

Im excited, I want to see what happens now. I will have to be sharper next year and prepare myself more for these shorter races.

She added: I am a very bad tactical racer but tonight I thought Id see how I do in a tactical race and I felt amazing, especially over the last 400m. So I know I am getting better every race.

Kipyegon spends much of her training time in the company of some of the best marathon runners and, during an exclusive interview with AW at the end of last year, admitted she will not consider herself to be a true athletics great until she has conquered that event, too.

For now, however, she does have the satisfaction being able to bask in the golden glow of another job extraordinarily well done.