Faith Kipyegon
One mile is 1,609 metres – a distance that represents a challenge and an ambition. For over half a century, the holy grail of the four-minute mile has been the domain of male athletes. Now, in 2025, Nike wants to shatter that with Faith Kipyegon: twice Olympic champion, it’s time to rewrite the 4 mile record.
Breaking 4 is Nike’s latest dream project – with an ambition at its heart: to inspire. To achieve this, Nike has been working in partnership with Kipyegon to engineer every possible condition other than her own training and performance for her to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes. The project isn’t just about stopwatch supremacy – the emotions and stories behind the ambition are the driving force of the attempt: “It’s always a partnership when we work with our athletes,” Brett Kirby, Principal Researcher at Nike’s Sport Research Lab, tells Schön! “In this particular case with Faith, it’s a bubbling of ideas coming together – you have Faith, her team, you have Nike and its innovation, our dreaming culture.”
Creating inspiration around this project is achieved through teamwork – boosted by unmeasurable imagination. Nike has built a performance architecture around Kipyegon, driven by four pillars – preparation, location, aerodynamics, and efficiency – brought to life with radical apparel design, custom footwear engineering, and microscopic attention to her kit.
Faith Kipyegon will attempt the feat at Paris’ Stade Charléty later this month. For this momentous event, Nike has prepared her in every possible way. First up is the Speed Kit – a bodysuit with arm sleeves, leg sleeves, and headband, all designed as a second skin: “Faith expressed this need to run free,” says Lisa Gibson, Expert Project Manager in Apparel Innovation. “So we kept that top of mind. We used selected materials that are super slick and stretchy, and that also have an aerodynamic benefit.” The details on the Speed Kit are primordial: “The material fit on the suit is different from that of the arms sleeves, leg sleeves, and headband. That’s because different materials perform differently, depending on what area of the bodies they are on, from an aerodynamic perspective,” Gibson explains. “We also factored in weight, so as we moved further away from the centre of the body, we wanted to make sure that we were using materials that were as lightweight as possible.”
A technical addition to the Speed Kit, designed to boost her performance, are the Aeronodes – miniature 3D printed structures on the suit that redirect airflow, reduce drag, and minimise the turbulence that pulls runners back. While invisible, the feel and impact of turbulence results in lost milliseconds and fatigue. “These arrow modes are resulting in less drag,” Gibson explains, talking about the technology that could redefine a sporting epoch.
Then there’s the Nike Lamina Bra – a 3D-printed TPU structure engineered for breathability, moisture management, and anatomical support. The innovation was centred around the very first conversations that Nike had with Faith. “I asked Faith why she wants to do this,” Kirby relates. “For her, it’s really about dreaming big, and trying new things. She wants to make dreams come true. Those are important things to her, and to us. Of course, you have a desire to push support forward and for women specifically. That brought us to some of the apparel questions. Specifically, how does she fit in her bra? And that’s a women’s specific need, where men would not have that.” It’s a reminder that Nike always pays close attention to: designing for women is about listening to their needs. It means building systems around real bodies, listening closely, and rethinking assumptions.
Footwear was also a key area of innovation, Carrie Dimoff, Nike’s Program Director of Footwear Innovation, tells us. Based on Kipyegon’s beloved Victory 2 spikes, the shoes were rebuilt with a higher Zoom Air unit (for more energy return), dual carbon plates, and 3D-printed titanium spike pins. The result is more propulsion and less weight: “Her current world record shoe features an airbag,” explains Dimoff. “In this case, we engineered an airbag that was about 3 millimetres taller… now we can store more [energy] and we return more energy back to her.”
Regardless of the outcome, the Nike team hopes that the innovation and research will inspire and help athletes the world over to chase their dreams – whether in 4 minutes, or far beyond. “For this attempt, we’re really focused on Faith. We’ll need to take a moment after the attempt,” says Dimoff, “and then relook at what we invented for Faith that can be scaled and delivered… but it’s certainly a hope.”
For now, the build up to Breaking 4 is real and radical. It’s a project that fuses innovation and human stories, emotion and global communities. It’s a clear reminder that sometimes, the most radical thing you can do is dream big.
Follow the Breaking 4 project on nike.com
images. courtesy of Nike
