Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo enjoyed strong outings at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, emerging winners in their respective events on Saturday, Afrosport reports.
Kipyegon, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, broke her own world record to win the women’s 1500m event at Hayward Field.
She ran a time of 3:48.68, shaving off .36 seconds off her record (3:49.04) from last year to win her seventh 1500m title at Prefontaine.
Kipyegon also became the first woman to run under 3:49 and now holds five of the 10 fastest times in women’s 1500m history.
The 31-year-old finished ahead of Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia, who was second in 3:51.44, while Australian Jessica Hull clocked 3:52.67 to settle for third.
Last month, the Kenyan missed out on becoming the first woman to run a sub-four-minute mile. She, however, ran the fastest mile in history by a woman, clocking 4:06.42 at Stade Charlety in Paris.
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Tebogo ran the fastest time in the world this year to win the men’s 200m race.
The 22-year-old Batswana, who was making his return from a ‘recurring injury,’ clocked a season’s best 19.76s for his second Diamond League victory this season.
Tebogo beat American Courtney Lindsey, who came in second in 19.87s, while Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando ran 19.94s to finish third.
