 | Today we're looking at Faith Kipyegon's attempt to run a four-minute mile. Plus, Canada advances in the Gold Cup, the Oilers and Canucks make a trade, and the Boston Celtics continue their sell-off. | | | Can a woman run a 4-minute mile? Faith Kipyegon is about to try.
| | | Tomorrow in Paris, Kenyan track star Faith Kipyegon will attempt to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes.
It's a daunting challenge. Though the mile has lost much of its lustre since its mid-20th-century heyday and is not part of the Olympics or the world championships, some still consider it the ultimate test of a runner. It demands a special blend of speed, strength, fitness, endurance, intelligence and, because it's so painful, raw courage. And, to do it in four minutes, Kipyegon won't have to merely break the women's world record — she'll have to obliterate it.
In the 71 years since English medical student Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile on a cinder track at Oxford University, the men's record has been lowered to 3:43.13 (by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999). But the women's record, set by Kipyegon herself in 2023 in Monaco, is 4:07.64.
A mile is 1,609 metres — a little over four full laps of the 400-metre track. So, for Kipyegon to go sub-4, she'll have to trim her world-record pace by about two seconds per lap. That may not sound like much, but at a four-minute-mile pace two seconds equals about 13.4 metres. So, the 31-year-old mom will have to beat the ghost of her 2023 world-record self by about 54 metres.
If anyone can do it, though, it's Kipyegon. She's won three world titles and three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 1,500m — the closest thing to a mile offered at the majors. She's also the reigning world champion in the 5,000m and took silver in that distance at the Paris Olympics last year. When Kipyegon broke the women's mile world record in 2023, she lopped almost five seconds off Sifan Hassan's standard from four years earlier. Before that, it took more than three decades to lower the record by that much.
Kipyegon will also have plenty of help on Thursday. Her attempt to break the four-minute barrier is sponsored by Nike, which has branded the project Breaking4 — a riff on the Breaking2 campaign it devised for Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge (and two other athletes) to become the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in 2017. That highly choreographed time trial on a Formula One race track in Italy was unsuccessful (by just 25 seconds), but Kipchoge ran a 1:59:40 in a similar unsanctioned challenge two years later in Austria.
Kipchoge's time was ineligible for a world record because that race (and the one before it) didn't conform to the standards of track and field's world governing body, now known as World Athletics. Kipyegon's attempt won't officially count either because she's being furnished with advantages similar to those that her mentor and training teammate enjoyed.
The exact pacing strategy hasn't been released, but Kipyegon is expected to be joined by a rotating cast of pacers (possibly a mix of women and men) who run both in front of and behind her in a formation designed to minimize wind resistance and optimize drafting. They'll be guided by the cutting-edge Wavelight system, which uses LED lights on the inside rail of the track to show the desired pace.
Nike is equipping Kipyegon with a bespoke pair of track spikes that feature a full-length carbon-fibre plate (de rigueur these days) and weigh just three ounces per shoe (25 per cent lighter than the ones she normally uses). She'll also be wearing a custom-made shoulder-to-knee speed suit along with arm and leg sleeves and even a special sports bra. The track was carefully chosen as well. Paris' Stade Sébastien Charléty is where Kipyegon broke her own 1,500m world record last year.
Kipyegon's run at the four-minute mile will be shown live Thursday at 1:15 p.m. ET on Nike's YouTube channel and Amazon Prime Video, which also has a two-part documentary series on the Breaking4 project.
Here's more on Kipyegon's attempt to run a four-minute mile. And, from a recent episode of CBC Sports' Trackside, here's a discussion on whether or not she can do it. | | |  | Three-time Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon holds the women's world records in the 1,500m and the mile. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
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| | | Some other things to know:
1. Canada advanced in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
It wasn't pretty (is it ever in this confederation?) but the Canadian men's soccer team defeated El Salvador 2-0 in a nasty group-stage finale last night in Houston to win Group A and move on to the quarterfinals of its continental championship tournament. El Salvador played two men short after a pair of its midfielders were ejected late in the first half. Jonathan David (with his record-extending 35th goal in 66 appearances for the national team) and Tajon Buchanan scored 2½ minutes apart early in the second to give Canada the win.
"Typical Concacaf," David said of El Salvador's rough play. "But we were ready for it."
Canada will face Guatemala, the second-place finisher in Group C, on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis. The winner will meet the host United States or Costa Rica in the semifinals. In the other half of the draw it's Mexico vs. guest team Saudi Arabia and Panama vs. Honduras.
2. The Edmonton Oilers traded Evander Kane to Vancouver.
Today's deal between the Pacific Division rivals sent the veteran winger to the Canucks for a fourth-round pick in this weekend's draft.
Kane, 33, did not play in the regular season after having surgery in September to repair a bunch of injuries to his core, followed by knee surgery in January. He returned for the playoffs and had 12 points (including six goals) to help the Oilers reach the Stanley Cup final, where they lost to Florida for the second straight year.
Kane, who spent the last four seasons with Edmonton, is entering the final year of his contract with a cap hit of just over $5 million. The Oilers will not be covering any of his salary.
In other pro hockey news, Marie-Philip Poulin of the Montreal Victoire was named the PWHL's most valuable player. The Canadian women's national team captain led the league with 19 goals in 30 games and helped the Victoire to the best record in the regular season before they were eliminated in the first playoff round by Ottawa. Poulin's teammate Ann-Renée Desbiens won the goaltender of the year award while Montreal's Kori Cheverie was named the top coach.
At last night's PWHL draft, the New York Sirens selected Czech forward Kristyna Kaltounkova first overall and made a big trade, sending top defender Ella Shelton to Toronto for the Sceptres' first- and fourth-round choices. New York used that first-round pick (third overall) to take NCAA women's player of the year Casey O'Brien, who was considered a candidate to go first overall. Here's a full draft-night recap from CBC Sports' Karissa Donkin.
3. Canada made it to the women's playoffs at basketball's 3x3 World Cup.
A pair of losses today in Mongolia, to third-seeded France and No. 11 Hungary, dropped the sixth-seeded Canadians' record to 2-2 and resulted in a third-place finish in their group. But the second- and third-place teams qualify for the play-in round, where Canada will face a TBD opponent on Friday for a spot in the quarterfinals against the winner of another group.
Canada's men's team, seeded 17th, is 1-1 heading into tomorrow's matchups with No. 3 France (5:10 a.m. ET) and No. 14 Puerto Rico (7 a.m. ET). Watch those games live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, where action resumes tonight at 11 p.m. ET.
In other basketball news, the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics continued their sell-off by trading centre Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta a day after sending guard Jrue Holiday to Portland. With star Jayson Tatum likely out for next season with a torn Achilles, Boston has been shedding salaries to get under the punitive "second apron" of the luxury tax. The Porzingis and Holiday trades will save them an estimated $180 million US in luxury taxes alone on what was projected to be a combined payroll and tax bill of over $500M next season.
The NBA draft takes place tonight. Barring a surprise trade, the Dallas Mavericks will use the first overall pick on Duke star Cooper Flagg, who could help them move on from the puzzling Luka Doncic trade. The Toronto Raptors pick ninth. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you later.
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