Faith Kipyegon launched her road-running chapter emphatically, storming to a commanding victory at the Monaco Run 10K on Sunday.
In what was her maiden outing on the tarmac, the quadruple world 1,500m champion glided through the streets of the Principality to clock 29:47.
Kipyegon dictated the tempo from the gun, recording a split of 14:59 at the halfway mark.
She briefly surrendered her position around 7.5km, then wound up her stride once more, unleashing a decisive surge that carried her clear of the field.
The 32-year-old finished ahead of Britain’s Jordan-Lee Mandie (34:24) and France’s Emeraux Augustine (34:50).
Kipyegon had earlier signalled her desire to stretch her range, with ambitions of moving to longer distances and, ultimately, the marathon, a shift that would see her step away from her beloved 1,500m.
“I feel so motivated to see the athletes I have competed with running in the marathon, and they are running very well,” Kipyegon said in an earlier interview.
Over the years, Kipyegon has carved her name deep into the granite of middle-distance history.
Her mastery of the metric mile first announced itself in 2011 at the World Youth Championships in Athletics in France, where she blazed to victory in a championship record 4:09.48.
A year later, she returned to the top of the podium at the World Junior Championships in Athletics, again rewriting the record books with 4:04.96.
She graduated seamlessly to senior dominance, striking gold at the Commonwealth Games in 4:08.94.
On the grandest stage of all, Kipyegon announced her Olympic reign at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning gold in 4:08.92, before defending her crown in Tokyo 2020 (3:53.11) and again at the Paris 2024 Games (3:51.29).
She also claimed Olympic silver over 5,000m in Paris, stopping the clock in 14:29.60.
The World Championships have been equally generous to the Kenyan superstar.
She has harvested four 1,500m titles from London 2017, Eugene 2022, Budapest 2023 and Tokyo 2025.
She equally owns silvers from Beijing 2015 and Doha 2019 over 1,500m and another in the 5,000m from Tokyo 2025.
Her glittering cabinet further boasts five Diamond League Final trophies collected in 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Meanwhile, in other road events, national 5,000m champion Loice Chemnung obliterated the Barcelona Half Marathon course record, slicing through the tape in 1:04:01.
Her run erased the previous mark of 1:04:13 set by compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2025.
Weini Frezghi (1:06:04) and Diniya Abaraya (1:06:28) completed the podium on Sunday.
On Saturday, two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor stamped his authority at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, powering to victory in 58:14.
Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew settled for second in 58:23, with Gideon Rono sealing third in 58:38.
