World Athletics Championships: Faith Kipyegon storms to historic fourth 1500m title in Tokyo

Faith Kipyegon stormed to a historic fourth world 1500m title as the Kenyan great extended her streak of dominance with a fifth consecutive global gold in the event.

The 31-year-old matched retired men’s world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj as the only other athlete in history to amass four 1500m titles at the championships.

After securing her third consecutive Olympic triumph last year, this was also a third straight world gold for Kipyegon, who controlled the final from the start before bursting clear of her rivals on the final lap.

Not only is the world record holder unbeaten in the past five global finals but, excluding heats, she has not suffered defeat over the distance for more than four years.

Australia’s Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull faded to bronze after attempting to follow as Kipyegon wound up the pace, with Dorcus Ewoi securing a Kenyan one-two.

The unstoppable Kipyegon crossed the line in three minutes 52.15 seconds, the chasm separating her from her competitors evidenced by the near three-second wait for Ewoi to follow.

“I just want to thank God,” Kipyegon told BBC Sport.

“I knew I was capable of defending my world title after breaking the world record [earlier this year]. I thank God that I was strong today.

“I just wanted to run comfortable without pushes and falls, because I was a little bit scared seeing people falling. I just wanted to be by myself and run my race.”