Kenya’s athletics sensation, Faith Kipyegon, has done it again by registering the second-fastest 3000m time in history at the Diamond League meeting in Poland on Saturday, August 16.
Kipyegon ran 8:07.04, narrowly missing the world record of 8:06.11 set by China’s Junxia Wang in 1993. Despite missing her target of breaking the record, she wowed the athletics world with a spectacle that left her rivals wondering.
Likina Amebaw of Ethiopia was second with 8:34.53 while her compatriot Aleshign Baweke came in third.
Kipyegon’s show is now the closest anyone has come to the three-decade world record. Another Kenyan, Beatrice Chebet, did 8:11.56 at the Diamond League in Rabat.
Kipyegon gave the pace-setters a run for their money from the start, passing the 400m and 800m marks comfortably ahead. Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka briefly followed in second place as America’s Karissa Schweizer and Amebaw tried to keep up.
As the race progressed past the 2000m mark, Kipyegon opened a wide gap from the rest of the field. From that point, it became a one-(wo)man chase for the record, but missed the target by a thin second, revealing a rare determination that left close to her coveted goal.
Kipyegon, a world and Olympic champion over 1500m and 5000m, now adds another near-historic mark to her collection in the 3000m.
This was her latest race in a strong 2025 season. She began her season with the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country event before running 2:29.21 in the 1000m at the Xiamen Diamond League.
The star also set sights on becoming the first woman to run a mile under four minutes as part of Nike’s Breaking4 project in Paris. She did 4:06.42.
Then, she said: “I have proven it is possible; it’s only a matter of time. If it’s not me, it will be someone else. I won’t lose hope.”
