Kenyan middle-distance star Faith Kipyegon has ended her season due to a hamstring injury and will miss next month’s inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Hungary.
Kipyegon, a three-time Olympic and four-time world 1,500m champion, was expected to compete in the inaugural event, which will bring together about 400 elite athletes in Budapest from September 11-13.
“Since the end of May, I have been dealing with a hamstring injury, and unfortunately it needs a bit longer to recover than I had hoped”, she posted on X.
“I will take the time to heal, recover and get stronger,” she added.
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She kicked off her season with a win in February at a 10km race in Monaco, finishing in 29:47. Then, at her first big Diamond League meet of the year in Shanghai, she won the 5000m with a strong time of 14:24.14.
But after that, things started to go downhill. The 32-year-old struggled to shake off the injury in two major races in July.
At the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, she was leading the mile race but lost steam near the end. She ended up third in 4:17.80, behind American runner Nikki Hiltz. Then, in Monaco, she came in fourth in the 3000m with a time of 8:24.21.
Right after that Eugene race, she opened up and said she’d been dealing with a hamstring issue. That was the first real sign that something was wrong.
Now, with her latest update, it’s official, she is stepping back. That means fans will have to wait a bit longer to see her compete again.
All reigning Olympic and world champions, as well as Diamond League winners, will qualify for the Ultimate Championship, which offers a total prize purse of $10 million.