Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/sofieke-van-bilsen-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Sofieke van Bilsen</a>Wherever you were watching Faith Kipyegon take to the track to <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-athlete-faith-kipyegon-breaks-mile-record-time" target="_blank">break the 4-minute mile</a>—in standing-room-only crowds of employees at Nike's worldwide campuses, at watch parties in Chicago, Los Angeles, Eldoret, Kenya, on digital billboards in New York City, London and Mexico City, or gripping the edge of your seat inside Stade Charléty in Paris—the emotions of <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/topics/breaking4" target="_blank">Breaking4</a> were palpable: excitement, nervousness, elation, pride.The images below reflect every feeling and show what athletics fans have always known: Faith Kipyegon is a champion. The team at Nike knows it too."I feel so proud of myself that I've tried", Faith said post-attempt. "Today was a learning lesson, that I have to give it my all, and that's what I did—&nbsp;I gave it my all. And it's shown me that everything is possible, and I think I've shown other women out there that can be true for them too. We have to push ourselves towards what we dream of and dare to try".Faith, we can't wait to see, and support, what you dare to try next.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Go trackside to see and feel the emotion from the champion's historic attempt.

Photo essay

Behind the scenes of Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 attempt day

Partnership

Faith Kipyegon reshapes running history, beating her world-record time in the mile

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/davis-jones-senior-editor" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Davis Jones</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/dan-vernon-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Dan Vernon</a> and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/sofieke-van-bilsen-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Sofieke van Bilsen</a> At its core, Breaking4—<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">Faith Kipyegon's project with Nike</a> to run a sub-4-minute mile—has always been about heart and belief. That's what's powering Kipyegon, alongside <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-breaking4-speed-kit-behind-the-design" target="_blank">cutting-edge Nike performance products</a>. But don't think for a second—certainly not the 7.65 seconds Kipyegon needs to shave off her world-record mile time—that&nbsp;Nike didn't consider hundreds of other factors to get Kipyegon across the line in a time starting with a "3".To complement and amplify Kipyegon's bespoke products—including a one-of-one Nike Fly Suit, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/nike-new-performance-material-flyweb" target="_blank">a revolutionary FlyWeb Bra</a> and a first of its kind Victory 2 Elite FK Spike—<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/meet-the-dream-team-behind-faith-kipyegon-s-breaking4-attempt" target="_blank">the Breaking4 team</a> fine-tuned the attempt's aerodynamics and efficiency. Preparation and location. Weather and, well, vibes. Each of these points contain smaller details that the Nike Innovation team scrutinised from every angle, all in an effort to nail a perfectly orchestrated approach with Kipyegon. Dive into 10 of the ways Nike offered its support.

<h3>1. Let Faith be Faith </h3>Faith Kipyegon isn't toeing the line for Breaking4 as merely an elite runner. She's built a case as one of the greatest middle-distance runners of all time. She's the current world-record holder across three distances. Her three gold medals in the 1,500 metres span almost a decade and counting. There are intangibles too. She has her training preferences perfectly tuned. She understands her own athleticism like a driver knows their racing car. Nike's role in Breaking4 wasn't to reset Kipyegon, but to add to the capabilities of an already historic runner.

<h3>2. Instil confidence</h3>In the beginning of Breaking4 strategising, the Innovation team debated the trajectory of Kipyegon's 1-mile racecourse. What if the path was a straight, like in a road race? Remove all the curves, and ensure a pacing formation could be linear instead of skewed for left turns? ﻿When the team shared this with Kipyegon, she was vocal: She'd feel more confident and comfortable running on a track, where she'd built her entire professional career on reading the eight lanes, tuning her focus to the inside rail."Whether it was a feature of the racecourse, her pacer formation or a detail in her apparel, building her confidence meant everything to us", says Amy Jones Vaterlaus, VP, Innovation, NSRL. "We listened to her intently. We watched for cues she'd give off, maybe without even realising it. Ensuring she can move freely, without distraction, is just one more way we can help build her confidence".

<h3>3. Choose the right time of year</h3>Kipyegon's professional schedule weighed heavily in choosing the month for the attempt. If she's to peak in mid September during the World Championships in Tokyo, she has to give her body the ideal window of time for training periodisation, or the scaling of her preparation to leave her feeling ready to go. The optimal timing: late June.

<h3>4. Game the weather</h3>﻿Weather conditions on race day can be the dealbreaker for achieving fast times. Heat, wind and rain can all put an additional load on an athlete. Too much heat is a thermal burden that leads to overexertion. Too much wind—and around a track, there will always be a headwind at a certain point—creates drag forces that slow runners down. Weather doesn't come on demand, of course, and the Nike team knew the ideal geographic location of the attempt would need to cross off as many criteria as possible: zero rain, less than 12km/hr wind, moderate temperatures.

<h3>5. Minimise the jet lag</h3>﻿Anyone who flies internationally can attest to the physical and mental toil from zooming through time zones, leaving you sluggish and fatigued. Your body has a circadian rhythm, an internal clock, that prompts you to wake up and go to sleep. Somewhere in the middle of that time period is the bioenergetic sweet spot, when you feel most energised, or, in Kipyegon's case, most physically capable. That made finding the right area of the world for the attempt paramount for Breaking4. Minimising a shift in time zones would help keep Kipyegon's body clock from feeling out of whack."We knew she couldn't arrive feeling drained", says Jones Vaterlaus. "Paris having a time zone of one-hour difference from Kenya was a much easier decision than, say, somewhere in the United States, where Faith's jet lag would be significant".

<h3>6. Fine-tune the details</h3>A track isn't an inert surface. It possesses levels of responsiveness that can leave a runner's legs feeling fresh, or it can be firm and dampening, diffusing the precious energy that a runner puts into the ground. Texture matters too. Its grittiness can be well-suited, or not at all, for traction as a runner digs into the turns. For Breaking4, the Nike Innovation team ordered swatches of 10 track surfaces from around the world, sampling from different stadiums, to find the composition ideal for Kipyegon's performance, which included considerations like Kipyegon's bodyweight and stride rate."Our footwear solution for Faith was built on studying the interaction between Faith's foot and the ground", says Carrie Dimoff, senior manager for innovation footwear. "Our formula had to consider the track surface she'll be running on, and the properties the surface does or doesn't carry. While we were still landing on the location, we were able to test our spike prototypes on the exact track surface so we could evaluate energy return and traction effectiveness".

<h3>7. Find the ideal stadium</h3>The team knew Kipyegon wanted to compete on a track to stay true to the historical spirit of her sport. That left Nike's Innovation team with the crucial decision of which track. A track where a runner has pre-existing history can give them the comfort they need to lay down a fast time. One of these options was in Monaco, where Kipyegon broke the mile world record in 2023. The team also considered Eugene, Ore. In 2023, Kipyegon stepped onto Hayward Field and cruised to a Diamond League title in the 1,500 metres while setting a Prefontaine Classic meet record. In the end, the team decided on Stade Charléty in Paris, where Kipyegon ran her world-record times in the 1,500 and 5,000 metres. "I absolutely think there's special energy at this track", says Kipyegon. I have beautiful memories in Paris, breaking the 5,000 world record, breaking the 1,500 world record there. And now we are going for this special one, and I think the track will bring good results".

<h3>8. Perfect a pacer strategy</h3>﻿Nike's previous moonshot attempt, Breaking2, was a grand lesson in pacing strategy and aerodynamics. Nailing the drafting formation for Breaking4 would be one of the key elements to give Kipyegon the best chance to go sub-4. To help reduce the drag on Kipyegon, the Nike team considered countless pacer configurations, experimenting with the number of runners, the balance between men and women, and the geometry of the formation itself. They also thought about whether to introduce new pacers during the attempt. The upshot? Disruptions can make the smoothness of drafting go haywire; the choice to switch in runners midway through a lap can create micro-undulations in the air frequency, disturbing Kipyegon's speed."Creating a low-air-pressure pocket for Faith requires total synchrony among all the pacers in the formation", says Kirby. "Experimenting with different formations is a lot like rearranging the pieces on a chess board. The timing needs to be right, the group positioning needs to be right, and the relationship between any single pacer to Faith needs to be right".

<h3>9. Pump up the colour</h3>Colour choice has the psychological power to motivate an athlete to reach her highest potential. Though the Nike Innovation team used little colour in the Nike Fly Suit—one reason was that doing so would affect the aerodynamic properties of the material—the suit's Nike Aeronodes are in a colour-shifting purple, a nod to Kipyegon's favourite colour. The stadium itself will be awash in purple, covering the stands, the jumbotron and the signage around the track. At literally every turn, Kipyegon will see the colour that motivates her. Beyond the race-day environment, Kipyegon's Nike Running Collection is also rooted in purple. The collection, which includes footwear and apparel, is paired with accents of red and green, representing her Kenyan heritage. And on Kipyegon's Victory Elite FK Spike, gold accents denote her gold medal victories.

<h3>10. Give her all the Nike advantages</h3>The Innovation team gave Kipyegon the full gamut of Nike tools during her training leading up to the attempt. Some are at the modern edge of athlete-recovery methodology, such as <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/hyperboot-by-nike-hyperice-official-images" target="_blank">Nike's Hyperice boots</a>, a heat and air-compression massage tool. Others, such as Nike's <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-vomero-plus-vomero-premium-official-images" target="_blank">new Vomero Premium shoe</a>, were ideal for recovery runs or long mileage. Then there were the innovations that were expedited so Kipyegon could benefit from their advantages before and during the race. Nike FlyWeb, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/nike-new-performance-material-flyweb" target="_blank">a new 3D-printed material used for </a>Kipyegon's <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/nike-new-performance-material-flyweb" target="_blank">sports bra</a>, was moved forward in its production cycle for Kipyegon to train in it. "This attempt is the first time Nike FlyWeb will be tested on the world stage, and in a one-of-one bra", says Janett Nichol, VP of Apparel Innovation. "Faith gave us a rare opportunity: she would not only wear it, she'd help us evolve it".

When she takes to the starting line, in every way, Kipyegon will represent Nike's latest and greatest.

Speed suit, sports bra, spikes, focus. Here, other essential factors Nike considered to give Faith Kipyegon the best support for Breaking4.

Feature

Innovation

10 details Nike obsessed over to support Faith Kipyegon and Breaking4

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/en/company/people/maisie-skidmore-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">By Maisie Skidmore</a>A few minutes before sunrise on a chilly Thursday morning in mid-March, a crowd of local runners waits patiently at the gates to the Global Sports Communication Camp in western Kenya to join the resident athletes on their weekly long run. The route can range from 20 to 40 kilometres, depending on where the professionals are in their training schedule. Today's workout covers 30 kilometres of an out-and-back, the locals doing their best to match the blistering pace, splintering off along the way. At the centre of this rarefied team is one of the greatest athlete of all time: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">Faith Kipyegon</a>.&nbsp;The sky, a deep, dark violet, becomes daubed with pink as the sun creeps up. The air smells sweet with wood smoke and eucalyptus. At 6 o'clock sharp, the runners set off, their feet pattering against the red dirt road in a flash of neon pink, orange and yellow. They run in focused silence, eyes straight ahead, yet still gesturing almost imperceptibly to one another to signal a pothole or obstruction or to shift the formation of the group. The only other sounds are the sudden noisy chirrups of birds, the occasional braying of cattle and the thunder of traffic as it races past, another day in rural Kenya beginning in earnest. On the route, the pack of runners pass children walking to school, their large backpacks bouncing up and down on their tiny backs. This, in fact, is how Faith Kipyegon—a three-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 metres, the world record holder in the mile, 15 years a Nike athlete and a <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-exclusive-interview" target="_blank">once-in-a-generation talent</a>—got her start.

"Being a young girl from the village, I was running to school and back home. It was fun, you know?" she says. It's a few hours later, and the 5-foot-2-inch athlete is fresh out of an ice bath and wrapped in a down jacket to thaw. All around, her peers' kits hang over bushes, drying in the warm morning sun. "It's still fun", she grins. As a primary school student in rural Ndababit, about an hour away from this camp, Faith covered some 10 miles a day. She's covered many more miles since—and runs them with a Swoosh on her feet—but now her mind is focused on just one. This summer, at Paris's Stade Charléty, she intends to become the first woman in history to run the mile in less than 4 minutes.

For women, a sub-4-minute mile has long been considered not only improbable, but physiologically impossible. For Faith, it's precisely this label that makes breaking 4 so compelling. "I'm a three-time Olympic champion. I've achieved World Championship titles. The team and I were asking, what else can we achieve? Are we going for more medals?" she says. "We asked, why don't we dream outside the box? Achieve the impossible. Make it possible".&nbsp;For Faith and her Kenyan compatriots, who operate almost entirely in metric kilometres, there's a novelty about the mile. The distance remains, as Faith calls it, "a big thing"—a milestone in every sense. She knows her North American competitors measure themselves against it from a young age, sprinting the mile as a fitness test from primary school and upwards. There's also a beautiful simplicity to racing the mile on a track: four laps, as fast as you can.&nbsp;Seventy-one years ago, in 1954, British runner Roger Bannister famously became the first man to run it in under 4 minutes, hitting a time of 3:59.4. Before he succeeded, it had been considered an impossible feat for any human being. And yet, in the years since Bannister broke that barrier, nearly 2,000 elite male athletes have achieved the same. Sometimes, all you need is proof.&nbsp;In 2023, Faith obliterated the existing women's mile record at the Monaco Diamond League, clocking a time of 4:07.64. The whispers began. Could a woman go sub-4? In her upcoming moonshot, she'll attempt to shave off those 7.65 seconds, cementing her legacy.&nbsp;

How? Anybody who's ever raced the mile—particularly while redlining their effort the entire way—knows the gap that divides 4:07.64 and 3:59.9 is chasmic. To help clear it, Nike is considering every factor and advantage, including innovations in apparel and footwear, as well as location, aerodynamics and efficiency. Faith is focused on the internal. First, she'll work to overcome the psychological barriers. "It's all about the mind", she says. "The physical can be healthy, but if the mind is not there, you are done. If you keep on telling yourself that you can do it, you can do it. You have to dream of training in a healthy way. Dream of being injury-free. Dream of how the event will look on the day, how you will be on the day. You can't stop dreaming". Second, she'll build on the solid foundation she established in Monaco—with a little help from YouTube. "I think of how I broke the 1-mile world record in Monaco and that has really helped me to review how fast I was. When you watch yourself running the same race, you can get an idea of what you are going to change".Faith has another formidable tool: the unwavering support and guidance of her mentor and training partner, Eliud Kipchoge, who achieved his own "impossible" feat in 2019, running 1:59:40 to break the 2-hour marathon barrier. Faith and Eliud have known one another for 10 years and trained together at camp for six, since Faith returned to work after giving birth to her daughter. Their relationship is like that of siblings—warm, playful, respectful, close. They are alike in many ways: focused, disciplined, ambitious. And different in others: where Eliud is almost ascetic in his contemplation, Faith is vivacious and animated. What's immediately clear in watching their interactions is the certainty Eliud has that Faith is the athlete for this moment. "What's special about Faith is that she is an abundant thinker", he explains in his soft tone, his gaze intent. "She can absorb any goal. She's a big dreamer, she respects everybody, she communicates with cohesiveness. She's able to put a lot of ideas in a bag and shake it and come out with the best one. Faith is the woman to take on this challenge because she's open to trying". He smiles mischievously: "In life, they say if you are thinking big, you need to wake up earlier and go to bed later. But in sport, if you are really a big dreamer, you train harder and smarter. And Faith is training well".

Eliud sits in a blue plastic garden chair in the lush green garden at camp. All around us grow fruit trees, flowers and bushes with handwritten signs at their bases. Some mark achievements, medals and records; others bear the names of the supporting family, friends and team members who planted them during a visit. (The Nike team keeps up a friendly competition about whose tree is flourishing—and whose is looking a little worse for wear.) As well as affording much-valued shade, these trees represent growth, fruition and the slow but extraordinary progress that can be made with sustained daily effort, says Eliud. Like the interior walls at camp, the garden is laden with signs and posters emblazoned with motivational quotes of all kinds. The positive mental attitude they invoke for Eliud, Faith and their peers is not only important to the training, it is the training. "What makes the psychological part fitter is to make the physical part fitter", he adds, alluding to Faith's process. "If you train in a good way, in a hard way, in a happy way and you are accomplishing everything in training, then the psychological part actually is already fit. You train the body and the mind at the same time".Faith and Eliud share a phenomenal coach in Patrick Sang, who has worked with Faith for six years and Eliud for 23. From his point of view, the goal of running a mile in less than 4 minutes is a natural progression for Faith, an extraordinary athlete whose talent and ambition are tangled up with her irrepressible spirit. "Whatever we do in life is a continuum of what we started some time back", he says. He lists Faith's accomplishments of just the past 18 months: a world-record Olympic gold, a third world title, the world record in the mile. "If you achieve what she's achieved, of course you get to a point where you ask, what if? Then the question becomes, what if you try? We're in the process now of trying, and this is the thing that is worth trying. She is convinced that it's within her reach, and with the proper support coming from all the systems around her, I believe it's possible".

The GSC Camp is a modest, quiet place. The only soundtrack is that of birdsong and chatter, the occasional peal of laughter. Most of the athletes sleep in shared dormitories. They divide chores and other domestic duties among themselves—cleaning, mopping floors, organising rubbish—the rota making no exceptions for medals or tenure. In the small gym, exercise balls are piled in the corner next to weights, a stack of wooden stools, a treadmill and an exercise bike. Outside, by the physiotherapy room, two huge blue plastic buckets—the ice baths—sit next to a freezer full of ice. The athletes using these facilities are the best in the world—the greatest, even, of all time. They have access to every convenience, every luxury, the newest technologies and innovations. But what they need to be at their peak is to forgo much of that from Monday to Saturday. Week after week, they choose to harness their implicit talent through focus, discipline and teamwork.The teamwork is key, and a resolutely Kenyan value. When Faith won her first Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016, she eschewed grand rewards in favour of having electricity installed for the village she grew up in. "Becoming an Olympic champion changed my life, and at the same time it changed the community's life", she says of that moment. "When you benefit, the community also benefits". That same community emphasis guides the athletes here every day. "My favourite thing about being in camp is the teamwork", she adds. "Teamwork is really what drives us to achieve what we have achieved".&nbsp;Eliud is a driving force behind this approach. "We are building a team by defining teamwork as a group of people who trust each other", he explains. "We build it with good values, good words, good training, good living environment, good relationships. With anything that brings humanity. Every day is a day for building teamwork. Faith can win as an individual, and the success belongs to the whole team". It's this focus on teamwork that leads shy newcomers at camp to take up leadership positions there, or the runners to shift their formation over the course of the long run, he explains. "In training, we're trying to give a chance to everybody. Running in front gives you confidence that you can lead other people. So we are rotating to give that chance and that morale to everybody. Go in front, get that motivation".

On Friday morning, the camp's athletes line up yoga mats and physio balls in the garden for their weekly strength and conditioning training. They are guided by their assistant physiotherapist, Eric Muthuri, but there's no question that they fuel one another, focused and united in their effort. As the tempo creeps up, Faith, grinning, catches the eye of some of her peers; together they giggle and protest. This workout takes place some 8,800 feet, or 2,700 metres, above sea level in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, with altitude that encourages the breath out of the lungs rather than into them. But otherwise, the routine is not visibly different from one at a community gym in any other city. When it finishes, the athletes will return to their dormitories to read, nap or sit quietly outside together, mentally preparing for the next workout. Rest and recovery are crucial.

While Faith, her coaches and her mentor push on towards her audacious goal from their base at camp, another supporting team is hard at work preparing for the upcoming attempt elsewhere. In Beaverton, Oregon, Nike's teams are honing innovations in footwear and apparel design and testing using a 3D mould created from scans produced when Faith visited the Nike Sport Research Lab in January. Her visit also included body mapping, baseline testing, VO2 max testing and conversations about colour palette and design direction. There will be no stone left unturned when it comes to improving her performance, her apparel and footwear, or aerodynamics on the day. She sees, feels, appreciates it all. "I don't even know how to talk about Nike—they have supported me in everything. Since 2010! Since I was so young in my career".As for the attempt itself, it's set for 26 June at Stade Charléty in Paris, on the same track on which Faith set new world records in the 5,000 metres in 2023 and the 1,500 metres in 2024. Contributing factors include the weather (no wind is preferable, naturally, and Faith favours afternoon sunshine) and the crowd (loud). But by the time she steps on the track, Faith explains, she'll already have broken 4 minutes hundreds, if not thousands, of times—in her head. "I run through it psychologically, in my mind: today is the day of the event, and I have to do this, and this, and this", she says. "This really gives me energy to wake up in the morning and go for training".&nbsp;

Another prime driver will be the grinning face of her daughter, Alyn, waiting for her at the finishing line. "Becoming a mother has changed my entire mental [attitude]", explains Faith, "firstly because when you are training, you have left somebody behind. I come to stay at camp from Monday to Saturday, and I just have two days with her. Now that she has grown, she understands what I am, she understands what I'm doing, that I have to push myself to hit these great goals. She knows running is not easy—you have to train and focus. She knows that when Mama is going to race, it's a serious competition; she waits until the finishing line, and then she can celebrate". While the time Faith spends away from home is not easy, she sees the power of setting this example for her daughter while doing her part to build a more equitable world for her to grow up in. "Motherhood has shown me a lot", she says. "That is the mentorship we have to give to our children—that you have to engage yourself in anything, whatever you choose. You have to motivate your child, you have to show your child the way. You have to go out to push barriers. And this is what I do".Alyn is not the only one. For every step of her training runs, every early morning rise or ice bath, Faith has women and girls in mind. "I think this attempt could open the minds of women", she says. "I hope they will be inspired to know that what a man can do, a woman can do. You can dream and make your goals happen. Boundaries are there to be pushed. This is the way to go as women, to push boundaries and dream big".

It's Saturday morning at Kipchoge Stadium in Eldoret, and Faith is doing her weekly track workout. Kenya's equatorial sun is high and unrelenting, casting no sliver of shade over the many local and visiting athletes as they run their laps. Its intensity has baked the track to concrete. It's serviceable and beautiful. Stopwatch in hand, coaches guide Faith through her sprints, and it's here and now that everybody watching is reminded just how exceptional she is. Her hands pull into her chest in her familiar and highly efficient form, and she darts around the track in a blur, her stride synchronised perfectly with that of Bernard Soi, her pacer and training partner of 15 years. Even running into the wind, she's hitting 43 seconds for her 300-metre repeats, a pace many elite male athletes spend their whole careers working towards. Her workout concludes and, visibly spent for perhaps the first time this week, she collapses on the grass, surrounded by her teammates, smiling as she gasps for air.&nbsp;

Faith Kipyegon vs the 4-Minute Mile—the official name of the attempt—is tempting to think of as a future moment. One day, 4 minutes, and bang. But it's this; the attempt has already begun. It is the weekly long runs, the strength and conditioning training, the cool early mornings in Kenya's forests and the unforgiving hot days on the track. It's the hours spent with her team, Monday to Saturday, mopping the floors or baking fresh chapatis. It's in the researching, the innovating, the strategising, the planning. Most of all, it is the dreaming—the end-to-end simulation that she has run so many times already in her mind. The total confidence in her ability, her focus, her training. She has faith, and we have her.The day itself, the starting line? That is the celebration. Faith, we'll meet you there.

For women, a sub-4-minute mile has long been considered not only improbable, but physiologically impossible. Meet Faith Kipyegon, the Nike athlete who's committed to breaking that barrier.

Faith Kipyegon is ready to make history

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/davis-jones-senior-editor" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Davis Jones</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/dan-vernon-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Dan Vernon</a> and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/sofieke-van-bilsen-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Sofieke van Bilsen</a>

A <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/faith-kipyegon-wins-gold" target="null">legendary runner</a>. A <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="null">legendary goal</a>. Faith Kipyegon is one of the most accomplished middle-distance runners in history. To push herself beyond simply earning more gold hardware, she set her sights on breaking a barrier thought to be indomitable—running a sub-4-minute mile. To match that goal, Nike is bringing its full power of sports science research and design expertise to create the integrated made-for-speed products to help get her there: 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.

The Nike team knows that performance in the mile is decided by the sum of many fractional decisions. The choice to hug the inside rail or float to the outside. Sprinting a breakneck pace at the start or hanging back to assess the field. Designing for an audacious attempt like Breaking4 is similar. Functionally, all of the Nike products need to combine, piece by piece, to help Kipyegon—the women’s current world record holder in the mile at 4:07.64—shave off the 7.65 seconds she needs to meet her goal.“The integrative nature of this kit means everything with this attempt”, says Brett Kirby, principal researcher in the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL). “Not any one thing will help her break it”.Here, Nike researchers and scientists unpack the power of the three Breaking4 innovations.

The Nike Fly Suit

The Nike designers’ mission for Kipyegon’s kit: Create the most aerodynamic speed suit in running history. Nike’s contributions to running aerodynamics through apparel spans historical scenes both memorable (Cathy Freeman’s bodysuit in Sydney) and more subtle (Eliud Kipchoge’s half tights in Breaking2). The gains to be made are huge; aerodynamics is a critical factor in Kipyegon’s attempt. At full sprint, she’ll be running 15 miles per hour. As the air hits her body, she’ll be pulled back as the air whips around her, building pockets of air, or eddies, behind her.

To fight these forces, enter the Nike Fly Suit, a one-piece apparel solution with a complementary headband and arm and leg sleeves featuring sleek, stretchy materials designed to help Kipyegon stay “slippery” to move through the air as efficiently as possible. The material used on the headband, arm sleeves and leg sleeves is lighter than that on the suit, which covers Kipyegon from below the neck to about the knee. As apparel gets further away from the body’s centre of gravity, keeping it lightweight becomes even more important to help Kipyegon conserve her energy. Plus, aerodynamic materials perform differently depending on their location across the body.

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”. Picture a rock in the middle of a rushing river, water wrapping tightly around the rock’s mass. Now, imagine if the wake of the current behind the rock wasn’t pulled back in but instead radiated further and further away from the rock, those swirling eddies increasing in intensity. That’s what happens when running at Faith’s speed in a typical suit. The Nike Fly Suit’s Aeronodes help the wind act like that rushing water around the rock, pulling the air tighter against her body and creating the smaller eddies behind her.Adding elements to make the suit faster might seem counterintuitive. But the project’s goal—to combine incremental product changes to give Kipyegon the best chance of breaking 4 minutes—required Nike scientists and researchers to suspend preconceived notions.“On our innovation team, we always start by challenging any assumptions we have about athlete performance”, says Gibson. “We know our legacy with footwear design and the importance of the spike in cutting down runner times. But when we continued to explore the advantage we could gain from the apparel Faith wears—a conversation that we helped lead with Eliud Kipchoge and Breaking2—it became clear how much faster Faith could potentially run if the suit had certain physical features beyond the slickness of its material”.

The proof was in the testing, beginning with a digital wind simulation. Here, the team interrogated every detail of how the Aeronodes showed up—each one’s circumference, height, the spacing between them. Digital simulations allowed the team to test a range of configurations in a short amount of time without needing to create physical nodes on the suit. As the configurations looked more promising, the testing moved into a wind tunnel, then onto the track, then, finally and most importantly, to Kenya for Kipyegon to try herself.“We could say that a product feature might help make Faith faster”, says Amy Jones Vaterlaus, VP innovation, NSRL. “But if that product feature doesn’t match how Faith likes to feel, move and show up, then we’re not doing our jobs. The balance between the benefits of the speed suit and its familiarity for Faith was crucial”.

The Nike FlyWeb Bra

For enhancing sports performance, a typical sports bra has its drawbacks: It can hold more moisture to the body compared with other articles of clothing. The “thermal burden” associated with a normal sports bra can also be ruinous, even for an event as short as a mile. These considerations struck the Breaking4 design team, along with the fact that Kipyegon’s Fly Suit material was made to be as sleek as possible. It was critical that a sports bra not add another unnecessary heat source.For the attempt, Kipyegon will wear a new, one-of-one bra made of Nike FlyWeb, a 3D-printed TPU material optimised for moisture management, better than any typical textile. The bra’s racerback style provides more range of motion, and the computationally designed form features a dynamic, precision-tuned surface that’s denser in some places for higher support.

“This 3D-printed material innovation represents something entirely new on a visual and visceral level”, says Janett Nichol, VP, Nike apparel innovation. “Sports bras have never looked or felt like this before. The material is soft, light and incredibly supportive—yet it also feels like you’re not wearing anything at all. We know Faith’s bringing everything she has to achieve this goal, so we knew Nike FlyWeb had to be part of our contribution”.

The Nike Victory Elite FK

Last summer in Paris, Nike designers were already evaluating Kipyegon’s go-to spikes for her future mile attempt. The footwear behind Kipyegon’s hat-trick 1,500-metre gold in 2024 and her mile world record in 2023 is the Nike Victory 2. For Breaking4, Nike designers knew that whatever shoe she wore needed to be packed with the latest technology and engender trust in the way her Victory 2 spike has throughout her career.

The footwear team explored dozens of options, the models ranging from subtly different to net new. Kipyegon’s preferences guided the final verdict. The&nbsp;team levelled up a new silhouette made to Kipyegon’s specifications—the Nike Victory Elite FK—that is light, propulsive and, most importantly, fast.

“Track spikes are incredibly important for preserving energy while running”, says Carrie Dimoff, footwear product director, Nike innovation. “The suit addresses the energy demand to run through air. Faith’s spike features completely new components designed to increase her energy return and improve&nbsp;her running&nbsp;efficiency. The spike is also significantly lighter than anything she’s worn before.&nbsp;We’re storied in our spike design history at Nike, and still we’ve pushed even further into the future with Faith’s Victory Elite FK spike”.

The athlete

Of course, the most important component in Breaking4 isn’t futuristic apparel or a cutting-edge spike, but Kipyegon herself. The Nike products are designed in service of her; they’re boundary-breaking because of her. And their every consideration—of which there were hundreds, thousands—had to bring Kipyegon an unrivalled confidence in her movement, her body and her preparedness to take on the record of a lifetime.“One of Faith’s unique qualities as an athlete is to bring out a spirit of connection among individuals, who all come together to achieve new heights”, says Kirby. “Through the camaraderie she brings, we all achieve something greater than what we could do alone. When she suits up for this attempt, we’ll all be there alongside her”.

See how Nike innovators created a one-of-one suit, bra and track spike to help the world champion become the first woman to break the 4-minute mile.

Behind the design of Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 speed kit

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/rachel-cavanaugh-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Rachel Cavanaugh</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/zach-doleac-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Zach Doleac</a> A massive team of Nike innovators, scientists, designers and dreamers have been working tirelessly behind the scenes and pouring in everything they have to make the impossible possible for Breaking4—Faith Kipyegon’s audacious attempt to shatter the 4-minute mile. They’ve chased new ideas. They’ve navigated doubt. They’ve trusted their instincts and each other.We sat down with six of the lead dream-makers—across footwear, apparel, innovation and sports marketing—to get an exclusive look inside the passion, breakthroughs and belief that’s powering one of the boldest pursuits in sporting history.

CARRIE DIMOFF Senior Manager, Program Management, Innovation Footwear Breaking4: Footwear Lead A former US Olympic Trials marathoner, Carrie Dimoff knows what it means to compete at the highest level. Now leading footwear innovation for Nike’s fastest athletes, Dimoff brings that sharp dual lens to Breaking4, overseeing the design and development of Kipyegon’s race-day spike. Dimoff helped drive the vision for Kipyegon’s ideal spike from concept to execution, pushing bold ideas, navigating rapid turnarounds and keeping every decision laser-focused on one thing: making Kipyegon faster.From the moment Faith broke the world record in Monaco, there was this incredible energy—this sense that something bigger was beginning. I’ll never forget the feeling in the stadium. It was electric. Everyone was amazed but already starting to wonder: could this be the beginning of the sub-4-minute mile for women?When I heard that Faith was going to go for it and that we were going to support her, I just thought, Yes, let’s go. Faith inspires the global community of women not just with her speed but with the way she carries herself. You could see it even in Monaco, the way her competitors rallied around her. She’s someone everyone can get behind.This project felt different from the start. The integration across Nike with footwear, apparel, science, pacing—it’s been a true all-in effort.&nbsp;As we considered her footwear, we kept asking, is this better than what she already has? Is it faster? Is it more confident? If it wasn’t, we scrapped it.&nbsp;Faith’s boldness makes us bolder too. She’s pushing the edge of human performance and, in doing that, she has challenged us to push past old limits too.If she crosses the line in under 4 minutes, it won’t just be a new world record. It’ll be a new understanding of what’s possible for women in sport.

BRETT KIRBY Principal, Scientist-Applied Performance Innovation Breaking4: Performance Integration LeadBrett Kirby has spent his career turning gutsy goals into executable plans. As a leader behind Breaking2—the Nike-backed project that helped fuel Eliud Kipchoge to run a sub-2-hour marathon—he’s no stranger to moonshots. For Breaking4, Kirby has helped steer the science and systems thinking that underpin the entire effort, bridging data, testing and design to help Kipyegon gain every possible edge—and make history.When I first heard about Faith trying to break the 4-minute mile, I honestly paused. I thought, Wait, what? This doesn’t seem possible. It felt so far away from anything we thought was achievable. But then I stopped and thought about who we were talking about: Faith Kipyegon. And suddenly, it shifted. This was the right moment, the right athlete. It was easy to get excited.From there, it became about commitment. One thing I’ve learned over and over, especially from projects like Breaking2, is that when you commit to something big, creativity starts to flow. Once you draw that line in the sand, you move differently. You stretch into new ideas, you collaborate more deeply, you make the impossible feel within reach.This project didn’t come with a road map, and that’s actually what made it great. This whole effort thrives because there was no script. I love the projects with question marks, the ones that leave room for discovery. Every day, it was about balancing what we could learn with what we had to deliver. Finding the art between exploration and execution.Faith’s drive pulled all of us higher. Watching how seriously she respected the magnitude of this goal made us want to show up better too. I found myself pushing harder, thinking differently, reaching further. It became a collective effort to match the bar she was setting.When I picture her stepping onto that track in Paris, I just hope she feels light. At ease. Like the moment is hers and her body and mind are in perfect harmony.If she breaks that barrier, it won’t just belong to her. It’ll belong to everyone who is dreaming bigger because they saw it happen.

JANETT NICHOL Vice President of Innovation Breaking4: Nike FlyWeb LeadWhen Janett Nichol got the call about Breaking4, she saw a powerful opportunity to help shape a historic moment through design and innovation. A seasoned leader in Nike Innovation with experience supporting intrepid goals like Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-2-hour marathon, Nichol knew the playbook for moonshot moments didn’t exist. But she also knew what it took to build one from scratch. Her team dived headfirst into crafting a race-day system for Kipyegon, strategising a full-body solution down to the smallest detail—and including a bra made from Nike’s newest material innovation.We had to build something game-changing, and every second counted. I knew we’d need to move at a speed that rivalled Faith’s own. So we asked ourselves, What do we have in our arsenal that could serve her? How can we make it better—fast?One of those innovations was Nike FlyWeb. We’d been developing it, but this was the first time it would be tested on the world stage, and by using it to create a one-of-one bra. Faith gave us a rare opportunity: She would not only wear it, she’d help us evolve it. Her feedback became fuel. We obsessed everything from sweat absorption to engineered breathability to lightness to support. It needed to feel like a second skin and still deliver on every demand of elite performance.Every improvement she inspired will ripple forwards into future designs, not just for her but for every woman who trains, competes and dreams. That’s the power of a breakthrough material like this.Faith trusts us, and we take that responsibility seriously. Debuting Nike FlyWeb was about more than making a bra more functional. It had to be beautiful. Emotive. A visual representation of strength and grace.&nbsp;Paris will be Faith’s moment. We don’t get to cross the finish line with her. But I’ll be feeling every stride, knowing our team gave everything to help her get there. It’s been the honour of a lifetime.

AMY JONES VATERLAUS VP, Women’s Research, Nike Sport Research Lab Breaking4: Innovation LeadWith a background in applied robotics and two decades of experience driving innovation at the meeting point of science and sport, Amy Jones Vaterlaus thrives in high-stakes, no-road-map challenges. For Breaking4, she’s played a central unifying role, aligning teams across apparel, footwear and performance science as priorities shift and insights emerge. Whether pivoting strategy or rethinking assumptions, Vaterlaus has helped the team stay nimble, all in service of building a cohesive system designed to give Kipyegon every possible edge.Some projects push your thinking. Some stay with you long after they’re over. From the moment I joined this one, I knew it would be both.Faith’s dream wasn’t just about one race or one goal. It was about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible—for herself, for women in sport, for anyone chasing something bigger than themselves. That’s the kind of energy that pulls you in completely.When I first heard about Breaking4, I didn’t hesitate for a second. My immediate reaction was, We’re in. What do we need to do? I recognised straight away how significant, as well as how challenging, it would be. But I also knew this was exactly the kind of audacious innovation challenge Nike was made for. And this is what I personally love to do.My role was to conduct—to bring together all these brilliant, specialised minds across footwear, apparel, performance science and more. Not just to organise them, but to help make the sum greater than the parts. Stay flexible. Stay agile. Make sure we were honest about what was working and what wasn’t—and willing to pivot when we needed to.We had to pivot a lot. Pacing started as the big lever, and then apparel took on an even bigger role. That level of change challenged me as a leader. Learning to pause, reassess and sometimes change direction when everything in you wants to keep charging forwards.Faith’s courage pushed me to think about my own edges too. Am I using my voice enough? Am I pushing beyond this one moment? This isn’t just a project. It’s a legacy. It’s part of a larger movement to close gaps in women’s performance knowledge and change what’s possible in sport.When Faith steps onto that track, I hope she feels it all—the pride, the love, the full force of a global community standing behind her. And I know I’ll be somewhere nearby, probably crying, feeling honoured just to have been part of it.

As Kipyegon’s long-time Nike sports marketing rep and close friend, Simon Bairu has had a front-row seat to nearly every milestone of Kipyegon’s professional journey. A former professional distance runner himself, Bairu knows exactly how rare an athlete like Kipyegon is, and he’s seen first-hand how powerful her presence can be. From supporting her day to day, to championing her biggest ambitions, his role is part logistics, part advocacy—and all heart.When Faith first decided to go after the sub-4-minute mile, I wasn’t surprised.&nbsp;That’s just who she is. She doesn’t tiptoe towards greatness, she runs straight at it. She had already told us this would be her final year focusing on the 1,500, and she wanted to leave a mark. Not just for herself but for every woman chasing something that’s never been done.This is one of those bold, uncertain projects that excites you because you know it’s going to mean something far beyond sport.&nbsp;The moment she said she wanted to try, everyone at Nike came together and asked, How do we help get her there? That’s what we do at our best.I’ve watched how hard she works, how much she sacrifices, how deeply she cares.&nbsp;It pushes me to be better too. My job is to meet her where she is and then help her get where she wants to go. That’s what this role is really about. Supporting her in the big moments, sure, but also in all the little ones that nobody sees.Faith is a fierce competitor, but she also has a sharp, witty side that not everybody gets to see.&nbsp;When she lets her guard down, there’s an ease and playfulness that comes through. I feel lucky to be one of the people she shares that with.In Paris, the gear will be perfect, the science will be in place—but I’ll just be thinking about how proud I am.&nbsp;I first saw her race in Rio when she won gold, and now she’s here, a champion, a mother, a leader and an ambassador who’s redefining what women are capable of. That moment will belong to her, no matter what the clock says.When she breaks 4, she won’t just set a record.&nbsp;She’ll change what every girl watching thinks is possible. I don’t think she can do it—I know she will.

LISA GIBSON Senior Product Manager, Innovation Breaking4: Apparel LeadA former Olympic water polo player for Great Britain, Lisa Gibson knows what elite competition demands both physically and mentally. Now leading apparel innovation at Nike, she brought that athlete’s mindset to Breaking4, guiding the creation of Kipyegon’s race-day speed suit. From early prototyping to final design, Gibson focused on performance, comfort and freedom of movement, building trust athlete to athlete.When I first heard about Breaking4, my reaction was awe and inspiration. What an incredible endeavour, a chance to truly change the game for women’s sport. Whether Faith breaks the 4-minute mile or not, her bravery to even attempt it is monumental. Dream big. Don’t let fear hold you back. That’s what she’s showing the world—and that’s what we wanted to stand behind.My role wasn’t about being the expert in materials or design. It was about making sure we moved together as one team towards a common vision: to support Faith in every way possible. We grounded ourselves in her voice from day one. It’s not just about creating performance innovation. It’s about listening. Making sure Faith knew: We hear you. We’re building for you.We obsessed every detail. Every graphic, every material choice, every seam was pushed and tested. If something felt even slightly restrictive to her, like a high neckline, we scrapped it immediately. We had to create something that moved in complete synergy with her body. Freedom of movement became our North Star. Form had to follow function, and Faith’s comfort had to lead everything.Breaking assumptions became our daily work. We challenged ourselves constantly: What if apparel, not footwear, could be the game-changer? How far could we push aerodynamics without sacrificing how Faith felt when she raced? When you bring that many brilliant minds together—scientists, designers, engineers—and you stay united in purpose, that’s where the real magic happens.I want Faith to feel unstoppable—powerful, confident, ready. I hope she feels how much heart, energy and belief we’ve poured into this for her. She’s already changed sport forever. Now it’s time to show the world.

We sat down with the Nike leads across footwear, apparel, innovation and sports marketing to get an exclusive look inside one of the boldest pursuits in sporting history.

Meet the dream team behind Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 attempt

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<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/maisie-skidmore-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">By Maisie Skidmore</a>It sounds like the opening line to a good joke. "Two of the greatest runners of all time walk into a garden". And when Eliud Kipchoge and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-profile" target="_blank">Faith Kipyegon</a> take their seats—on blue plastic garden chairs, in the lush green courtyard they have helped to cultivate at the Global Sports Communication camp—they can't stop laughing. "Not this guy!" Faith calls out, a wide grin on her face. "Oh no, he won't stop talking!"&nbsp;The warm, jovial back-and-forth typifies the relationship between mentor and mentee, and it's possible that it's what carries these two runners through the hard work they do. They live and train together, here at camp in Kaptagat, Kenya, from Monday to Saturday, week in, week out, covering hundreds of miles while living simply alongside their teammates. For all the laughter, Eliud and Faith's connection is rooted in focus and discipline, two qualities the pair share in abundance. They also share GOAT status.&nbsp;To break it down: in 2019, Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, confounding critics who, until that day, had insisted that such a feat was impossible. He won Olympic gold medals in the marathon in Rio in 2016 and in Tokyo in 2020, set the world marathon record in Berlin in 2022 and has won 15 of the 19 marathons he has competed in around the world. His global rallying cry is to "make the world a running world" and demonstrate to legions of followers that "no human being is limited".Faith Kipyegon, for her part, is a three-time Olympic champion in the 1500 metres (the only person to ever three-peat gold in the distance), a former world record holder in the 5000 metres and a world record holder in both the 1500 metres and the mile. When we sit down to speak, she is deep in training for her greatest feat yet. This June, with Eliud's guidance and unwavering support, Faith aims to become <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">the first woman ever to "break four" in the mile</a>, running the distance in under four minutes.With teammates and friends such as Eliud and Faith, talk of training, inspiration and dreams is never dull, and we were delighted to sit down with the two to chat through it all. That is, for as long as they could successfully avoid one another's eye contact. At that point, laughter won out.

Maisie Skidmore: Faith, tell me how the idea for this project first came to you.Faith Kipyegon: We [said], with the team, "we have achieved everything!" Three Olympic gold medals. World Championship medals. I've been the best miler on the track, the fastest 1000 metres, the fastest 1500. I said, what else can I achieve? We decided, it's high time to think about empowering girls and inspiring the next generation in pushing barriers.MS: What did Eliud say when you told him?FK: Eliud is like a computer! I don't know who told him, but he had already read my mind. Maybe he had this thought as well, that I could try something to cement my legacy. When I told him, he told me: "I think you have decided on a good thing to do".Eliud Kipchoge: After 1:59, I told everybody, "now you know what to do! You can come, you can train, you can run the marathon in under two hours [like I did]". Now, a new challenge comes to women. It comes to Faith. I'm so happy that Faith has dared to think, and is ready to try to run the mile in under four minutes. This is the chance of a lifetime. Faith will be going up to the moon, actually, and coming back to Earth, and [then] we will celebrate together. On that really crucial day, the world will be united for four minutes. We will celebrate for four minutes. We will make the world beautiful for four minutes.MS: The two of you have a mentor-mentee relationship.&nbsp;EK: Yes, we share a lot.&nbsp;FK: He's giving me his support, his encouragement and inspiration. Knowing that he has already tried [something of this scale] and he has achieved it, that encourages me. I encourage myself that Eliud did it, and I think I am gonna do it as well.&nbsp;EK: You know, I think the most important things are the systems. Faith has already built the real system. It's like crossing a bridge to get to the other side—the systems themselves are the bridge. Faith has just to step on them, and cross to the other side. So our work is actually to motivate her, tell her what's right and make sure her mind is calm. The hardest thing to control is the mind, but Faith is focused.

MS: How do you overcome the psychological barriers?EK: The psychological part follows what you have been doing in training. If you are hitting the right targets, training in a happy way, it makes the other side—the psychological part—very easy. The moment you accomplish one, it will help the other one.&nbsp;MS: How does it feel now Faith, to talk about what you are trying to do?FK: It feels great. To be together with Eliud, to be with a person who has tried and achieved it, has inspired me a lot. Eliud has shown me that boundaries are meant to be pushed. So I'm there to dare to try, and I will give it my all. Being at the side of Eliud and the team, with our coach, and training in a healthy way—it's easier for me, because the team behind me has already been successful.&nbsp;MS: How will you celebrate afterwards?&nbsp;EK: One of our values at camp is that we take time to celebrate our wins. We want Faith to accomplish the mission, to make history. Then, we will absorb the whole history, and then we celebrate.MS: How did you celebrate, Eliud, after you ran 1:59?EK: I ended my celebration at the finishing line. It felt like there were 1 billion people there. I needed to celebrate with everybody, and I think that's the best place to do it. As much applies to Faith; when she's going through that line, with everybody—all the people watching on TV, online, live, everybody—the highest energy will be there. It's good to celebrate that moment, and appreciate everybody in the world that's watching.MS: You've known one another for 10 years. Did you get along straight away?&nbsp;EK: Yes, we had a good relationship. The only problem was that I was on the road, and she was on the track, so at first, to interact was a little bit hard. She was doing one thing, and I was doing another thing.FK: I joined them here in 2019, after I came back from maternity leave. I've learnt so many things. Teamwork is the most important thing, but also, having fun together in camp. That is what we do here.MS: You've worked with your coach, Patrick Sang, for a long time—Eliud, for 23 years, Faith for six. What role does he play, for both of you?EK: A coach can influence an athlete's life much more than a parent; I think he has influenced us more than where we come from. We are here for five and a half days a week, and we interact here. Patrick has played a fatherly role for us. That's the real impact that he has had.FK: Eliud has said it all—Patrick is like our father, he has really mentored us. He knows what's best for us.MS: Coach Patrick told me that you're alike, in many ways. Is that something that you feel, too?EK: I've never thought about it like that! Maybe we are alike in our focus, and our purpose in life, yes.FK: I think ... [laughs] I think we are similar in knowing how to be in the right place, at the right time. When it is time to be in camp, we are in camp, and when it's time to be in training, we are in training. We have learnt that from each other.MS: Living in such close proximity here, you read one another closely. What do you do to lift the mood?EK: If I realise Faith is in a low moment, I just talk to her. She's easy to interact with, and in five minutes, she's laughing again. She's forgotten the stress [laughs].&nbsp;FK: Eliud is a person who reads my mind. Sometimes when I come in here and I'm not talking loud, or laughing, maybe something is bothering me, he's like, "I think there is something disturbing you. What is it?" I feel free to share with him, because he's like my brother—I'm with him all the time here. I listen to him, and after two minutes, I'm laughing again. Then we keep going, and focus on the day.MS: Eliud, what's the most meaningful thing that you've learnt from working with Faith?EK: The most meaningful thing is that she takes risks. Faith takes on anything that comes along. That's the beauty of her.MS: How about you, Faith?FK: What I've learnt from Eliud is that being disciplined is the key to every success. Work hard, every time. And be yourself.

See how the world's fastest man to run 26.2 miles is helping to guide the world's fastest woman to run 1, and make history in the process.

In conversation: marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge and athletics star Faith Kipyegon

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/rachel-cavanaugh-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Rachel Cavanaugh</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/dan-vernon-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Dan Vernon</a> and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/sofieke-van-bilsen-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Sofieke van Bilsen</a>

The boldest ideas don't begin with guarantees. They begin with a dream—and an audacious commitment to make it real. That's exactly how Nike FlyWeb, the company's newest performance material, came to life. The first-of-its-kind 3D-printing innovation was born through years of experimentation and a resolve to do what had never been done before.&nbsp;Nike FlyWeb represents a radical shift in how performance apparel is made and what it can feel like.Unlike traditional athletic apparel, which is typically knit or woven from yarn, FlyWeb is made from TPU—a soft, pliable polymer—and 3D-printed to form the desired product.&nbsp;Three-dimensional printing is nothing new for the footwear industry or Nike. "This is, however, the first time Nike has applied the manufacturing method to high-performance sports apparel for an athlete", says Janett Nichol, Nike VP of innovation.&nbsp;

"What works on a shoe doesn't just translate to something you wear on your body", she explains. "It took years of re-engineering—not just the materials but the design approach itself—to make FlyWeb feel soft, breathable and beautiful enough for apparel".The first product Nike design teams chose to tackle in the new material? One that hasn't changed in material form since its inception: the bra.The Nike FlyWeb Bra is an ode to minimalism. The FlyWeb material is one single, seamless layer, built through computational design so that Nike designers could control the fit and support down to the millimetre, adjusting density, airflow and stretch across different zones of the garment."We had to re-engineer everything—dismantling what we knew, then putting it back together—to make it wearable next to skin", says Nichol.

The result is something athletes have never felt before. The Nike FlyWeb Bra doesn't just reduce bulk or manage moisture more efficiently. It creates an entire sensory shift. For women athletes, it eliminates the multi-layer barrier found in most sports bras, unlocking airflow and comfort in ways traditional construction simply can't."It's soft. It's light—so light, it feels like you're not wearing anything at all", adds Nichol. "That's the number 1 thing testers tell us: it disappears on your body, yet somehow delivers incredible support".That support doesn't come from compression or layering but rather from the structure itself: the computationally designed pattern is specifically engineered to be denser in areas that need more containment.

Nike FlyWeb fluidly engages when the athlete moves, creating responsive athletic support without relying on seams, straps or extra material. That means pure freedom of movement."You can actually feel the air on your chest", says Nichol. "Most women have never experienced that while running. We don't even think about it because it's just not something we've ever expected to feel".On 26 June, in Paris, Faith Kipyegon will attempt to become the first woman in history to break the 4-minute mile, an effort that's been dubbed "Breaking4". And as she takes to the track for the legacy-defining attempt, she'll be wearing a one-of-a-kind sports bra made from the breakthrough material.

It was her ambition—and the scale of that goal—that helped push Nike FlyWeb from bra prototype to bespoke product."Everyone was a thought partner; we really put our heads together", says Lisa Gibson, senior product manager, apparel innovation. "And when you have a team working in synergy, believing in Faith and this moment, that's when things start to magically unlock. It's that Nike magic".

FlyWeb's debut isn't only a material milestone. It's the start of a new era in how performance apparel is made.What began as a moonshot of its own—an experiment to reimagine how we think about apparel—quickly accelerated into a breakthrough once Kipyegon's goal came into view.&nbsp;"We knew that it was an opportunity for us to look at what we had in our arsenal and what we could really use to help her break this goal", says Nichol. "We realised a gift had been dropped in our laps and it was up to us to rise to the moment".Now&nbsp;that the material is here, its potential is beginning to unfold.&nbsp;"We're just scratching the surface", says Nichol. "This is a true unlock, not just for bras but for how we design and build high-performance apparel going forward. It opens the door to entirely new ideas for how athletes experience sport through what they wear".

Featherweight, soft and breathable, Nike FlyWeb—a first-of-its-kind 3D-printing innovation—is a sports material like no other.

The future of performance apparel is here

Nike announces Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs the 4-Minute Mile

<h3>In 2011, Faith Kipyegon walked the grounds at Unhuru Gardens in Nairobi, Kenya, the wind tossing the long grass in her path. She was 16 years old and competing in the junior division of the Kenyan National Cross Country Championships, recognised as one of the most competitive races in the world, a 6-kilometre sprint over rough, hilly terrain through Kenya's Rift Valley. After checking out the racecourse on a leisurely walk, the only variable that mattered to Faith was, poetically, the matter under her feet. "I took one look at the texture of the grass, how soft it was and I told my coach, 'I'm not going to use my spikes today. I'm going to win barefoot'", she says. And she did.</h3><h3>In some ways, Faith Kipyegon, now 30, still describes herself as that same, barefooted young runner who believed she could go the distance. Her performance in Paris this summer secured her place in athletics lore as the only runner, man or woman, to win three back-to-back gold medals in the 1,500 metre. Her 2023 campaign, when she set world records in the 1,500m, the mile and the 5,000m, is considered one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of athletics. In other ways, her identity as a runner has fundamentally changed, particularly since the 2018 addition of her very junior training partner, her daughter Alyn.&nbsp;</h3><h3>Here, Faith shares more on her dominant career, the intersection of motherhood and running identity, the one thing Alyn needs after a victory by her mother, and more.&nbsp;</h3> Running barefoot has always felt comfortable to me. When I started running competitively at 14, I was given spikes to wear for the first time. I was happy to have them, but feeling as comfortable in spikes as I was while running barefoot took a long time. I even turned down wearing spikes a few times. Now, I still can't believe how I'm running in the fastest spikes on the planet.Running is a shared childhood experience in Kenya. I grew up in a small village called Ndababit, in Nakuru country, about 140 miles west of Nairobi. From the time I was in pimary school, we'd run four kilometres to school, run back home for lunch, run back to school and then run four kilometres home, every day until early secondary school.When young runners from the next generation watch me compete, I want them to see freedom—the freedom to challenge themselves in new ways. My 2024 season was beautiful. I was thankful for competing in the 5,000m in Paris and the 1,500m, which happened a few days later. But when I held that silver medal from the 5,000m, I thought to myself, "I can't let this disturb my 1,500 dreams". So I put that silver medal away. I had to be mentally strong to achieve my goal in the 1,500m.Motherhood gives me life as a runner. I’ve gotten extra energy from being a mother to Alyn. She sees how committed I am, how hard I work. During the season, she understands that I go to training camp from Monday to Saturday, and then I go back home, only to spend one day with her. It's really not easy, but she understands the sacrifices I'm making. She motivates me to work as hard as I can.I talk to my daughter before every race. She normally says the same thing to me: She wishes me all the best, and she asks me to bring chocolate back home—and the gold medal.

Motherhood can affect how you see your running career. My approach to Rio, Tokyo and Paris were all totally different. My first gold medal in Rio, I was 22, so young. I was still running for myself. In Tokyo, I had my daughter around me, but she was only three years old, and she couldn't fully understand what I was doing. She was watching me and going, "Mummy's running", not, "Mummy's running for a gold medal".&nbsp;In Paris, she knows what it's like when I win, but she also knows what it's like when I lose. After the 5,000 in Paris, she called me and asked, "Mum, why were you in position two this time? What happened?" It's very difficult to explain to a child what happened in a race while still being a role model to her. It's totally different from Rio. Today, I'm running to inspire my daughter and other young girls like her.All athletes have something that exists outside their comfort zone. For me, that's swimming. I remember in 2011 when I was in Punta Umbria for the Youth International Cross Country Championships. I met with my team at one of the local lakes to celebrate. I looked down at the water, believing it was this shallow pool. I jumped in. The next thing I knew, the water was up to my ears, and I couldn't hear anything. Swimming is the one thing I wish I was better at.When I reach the end of my career, I want to be known for empowering all women, and especially new mothers. It's possible to be a mother, go on maternity leave and come back even stronger than before. Being a mother is not the end of your career. It's the beginning of a new chapter.

The middle-distance champion on her dominant career, the intersection of motherhood and running identity, and more.

For the win

How Faith Kipyegon empowers herself—and all women runners

Erin Wallace rounded the 600-metre mark on the back stretch in Xiamen, China, holding on for dear life. In her periphery, she eyed the blinking blue light at her feet that was attempting to leave her behind.Erin was one of two runners who were pacing <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-profile" target="_blank">world champion Faith Kipyegon</a> for the 1,000 metres in April's Diamond League meet. Pacers, or rabbits, ensure that at least one runner in the field keeps the right pace to break a certain time, usually a record. In this case, Faith was looking to break 2:28.98 in the 1,000 metres, a world record that's stood for 27 years.&nbsp;Erin is familiar with laying down a pinpoint pace. In London in 2024, the 24-year-old Scottish athlete paced the 800 metres for fellow national team runner and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/keely-hodgkinson-wins-gold" target="_blank">Nike athlete Keely Hodgkinson</a>. Peeling off the track after 500 metres, she watched Keely soar around the second lap and break the British national record with a time of 1:54.61.&nbsp;Physically, pacing and racing are interrelated. But mentally, they do have their differences.

<h3>At the gun </h3>An in-between middle distance like the 1,000 metres in Xiamen shows the skilful precision behind every good pacer. Erin's coach, Trevor Painter, suggested she start the race conservatively. The gun sounds; the race begins. In starting as the third runner from the furthest outside lane, she needed to pull ahead of the pack for the first 50 metres. But at the 200-metre mark, she ran 29.4, a shade over the race pace of 28.8. She needed to pick things up. Fast enough? Too fast? Too slow? The internal dialogue rages in a pacer's mind. By the time she rounded the first 400 metres, she clocked a 59.38, nearly even with the blinking light around the track's interior—a light acting as a digital rabbit."In Diamond League meets, you have clocks stationed at every 100-metre mark. But you still need to have an internal physical sense of when to pick things up", says Erin. "Just because you can run a fast time doesn't necessarily mean you can regulate your speed for someone else's time".

<h3>During the race</h3>There's a time on the clock, and there's the clock ticking away in your body,&nbsp;raising the alarm to slow down or speed up. Erin mentions how pacing at different distances can require various levels of awareness. At shorter distances, you're going at a sprint, relying more on the light. Your athletic threshold is the barometer. A longer distance, however, can leave more room for strategic error."You learn to notice both your body and your environment at a high intensity when you're a pacer", says Erin. "You notice your position relative to the field. You notice where the timers are placed in the stadium. You especially notice anything that can disrupt the race, like how your exit impacts the other runners".

<h3>Going for the exit</h3>The final 400 metres, where many pacers will exit as the other runners take the bell lap, can be loaded with potential tripping hazards: the inside rail, the clock, electronic scoreboard equipment. In Erin's case during the Xiamen race, she looked down the last 20 metres of the 600-metre home stretch and realised that things were "looking a little busy down there", referring to a banner advertisement on the ground preventing an easy exit. She'd need to either hurdle it or find an opening about 2 metres past the finishing line and quickly veer off.&nbsp;She managed to find a gap in front of the banner. She shot for the exit and made it—barely.&nbsp;"When you peel off the track", she says, "you want the runner following you to have every detail lined up for them".&nbsp;That was true for Faith, who handily won the 1,000 metres, though narrowly missed beating the world record. She'll take those learnings to her next challenge: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">attempting to break the 4-minute mile in Paris on 26 June</a>.Erin's perspective on Faith's daring: "It's crazy", she says. "When you're running up close with her, like I have this season, you're able to appreciate just how talented she is". Erin adds that she's honoured to play a part in the Breaking4 arc. "Pacing gives you a chance to be part of another runner's story", she says. "Knowing that I can play a role in her path to beat that time is inspiring".

Middle-distance runner Erin Wallace, who paces champions like Faith Kipyegon, breaks down the tactics to help racers hold a pinpoint time.

Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile