Faith Kipyegon has a case as the greatest distance-running woman ever.
The Kenyan legend is the only individual, male or female, to have three Olympic medals in the 1500 meters, and her three medals are all gold.
She's also the official world record holder in the women's mile, at 4:07.64, a time which she ran in July 2023.
The 30-year old Kipyegon attempted to topple that mark and make some round-number history in the process on Thursday.
On Thursday evening in France, Kipyegon ran four laps around the track at Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, aiming for a four-minute mile.
She wore special shoes for the occasion, the Nike Victory Elite FK.
“Faith’s spike features completely new components designed to increase her energy return and improve her running efficiency. The spike is also significantly lighter than anything she’s worn before,” said Carrie Dimoff, the footwear product director at Nike Innovation.
Kipyegon's run featured pace runners, some of the best distance runners on the planet running alongside Faith in different portions of the race to try and get her across the line in the historic time.
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Did Faith Kipyegon break a 4-minute mile?
Faith Kipyegon ran her mile in 4:06.91 on Thursday, the best-ever by a woman but not sub-4.
Her previous best mile time was 4:07.64.
She ran the first 400 meters in 1:00.20.
After 800 meters, she was in 2:00.75.
After 1200 meters, Kipyegon was at 3:01.84, just off the pace she probably needed. It set up a blistering finish to have a chance, but the closing speed wasn't quite there.
You can watch Kipyegon's run here:
Is Faith Kipyegon's mile a new world record?
This will not count as an official world record.
The unsanctioned event featuring pace runners does not fit the standard for world track and field to call this a world record.
But it's still the fastest mile a woman has ever run in the history of this planet.