Faith Kipyegon signs on with Kipchoge’s coach

The world and Olympic champion in the 1,500m, who made a stunning comeback at this month's Pre Classic, is now coached by Patrick Sang

Anne Francis July 15, 2019

Faith Kipyegon, the current world and Olympic champion in the 1,500m who made a fantastic comeback at the Pre Classic 1,500m earlier this month, has had a lot of changes in her life in the last couple of years. After winning Olympic gold and the world championship and then snagging the 2017 Brussels Diamond League title, she took a break from the sport to have a baby. Most recently, as a story by the IAAF details below, she switched coaches, and is now coached by Patrick Sang, who also coaches marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge and half-marathon world champion Geoffrey Kamworor.

Kipyegon and her husband, Timothy Kitum (the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist in the 800m) welcomed their daughter, Alyn, into the world in June 2018, and recently the family moved about 100K from Keringet to Eldoret so they could be closer to Kitum’s family. Since Sang’s camp is at Kaptagat, which is only 45 minutes from Eldoret, the switch made sense.

Back on track, Kipyegon prepares to defend world 1500m title in @IAAFDoha2019.

?:https://t.co/3Oj8Bj2t4A pic.twitter.com/aAYr1uF0Nm

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 15, 2019

Kipyegon says she did not train during her pregnancy, preferring to take a complete break and focus on her family. It takes a lot to go through pregnancy and childbirth, recover, and then to resume training with the goal of competing at the same high level as before, and she is one of several athletes who are proving it’s possible to come back even stronger after childbirth.

Kipyegon does not live at camp, like some of Sang’s athletes (Kipchoge goes home to his family on weekends), but prefers to commute from her home in Eldoret. She reports that her training is not significantly different than it was with her previous coach, Bram Som, the 2006 European champion in the 800m who paced Samuel Tefera and Julien Wanders to world records in the space of two days earlier this year. Kipyegon will defend her title at the world championships in Doha in September.

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