Watch: Faith Kipyegon Wins Gold, USA's Jenny Simpson Nabs Silver in Epic 1,500m Race
Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon won a thrilling women's 1,500 meter final in 4:02.59 at the IAAF World Championships in London on Monday night. The United States' Jenny Simpson closed hard in the final 100 meters to add a third world championship medal to her collection and nab silver in 4:02.76.
South Africa's Caster Semenya leaned at the finish line to nip Great Britain's Laura Muir for the bronze medal in 4:02.90.
The race went out in 28 seconds for the first 200 meters before the pace slowed in the second lap and they crossed the 800-meter mark in 2:17. Siffan Hassan of the Netherlands made a major move from last to first heading into the bell lap but quickly faded.
Kipyegon and Hassan pulled away with Muir closing behind them but in the final 200 meters both Hassan and Muir faded. Simpson capitalized on an opening in lane one and managed to pass Muir for the runner-up finish behind Kipyegon.
Watch the final part of the race below:
Kipyegon won gold at last year's Olympics and now captured the first world championship gold medal for Kenya in the women's 1,500 meters.
Simpson continues to cement her legacy as one of the greatest American distance runners of all-time. She won gold in this event at the 2011 world championships in Daegu before earning a silver medal in Moscow three years later. She fell in the final at the 2015 championships in Beijing and missed the podium. She rebounded last summer by becoming the first American woman to medal in the 1,500 meters at the Olympics by winning a bronze.
"I could do that all over again," Simpson told the IAAF after the race. "It was so, so much fun. My coach just kept telling me all day be willing to run your guts out and you're going to be great and so I did exactly as she said. The last 300 meters especially, I just said 'Run your guts out' and I medaled."
Semenya won her first medal at 1,500 meters but also owns gold medals in the 800 meters from the 2009 and 2011 world championships as well as the 2016 Olympics. In 2011, the IAAF implemented a rule that limited the amount of natural testosterone for female athletes. Athletes with higher levels of testosterone needed to undergo treatment to lower their levels. Semenya’s performances fell off until the IAAF's Hyperandrogenism regulations were suspended for two years in 2015 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Semenya has since made a resurgence and the IAAF is appealing the CAS decision by citing a "significant competitive advantage" by females born with higher natural testosterone. She is also competing in the 800 meters in London and is favored to medal.
World record holder Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia was also in the race but finished last in 4:06.72.
