Mumbai: Faith Kipyegon takes her seat in front of a wall displaying three posters.

The first was from Eliud Kipchoge’s first attempt at running a sub-two-hour marathon under curated conditions in 2017 in Monza, where the clock stopped at 2:00:25. The second was from Kipchoge’s second crack at it two years later in Ineos, where he crossed the barrier and landed at 1:59:40. The third was from Kipyegon’s own shot at becoming the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes this June in Paris, where she came up short.

Kipyegon is pretty sure there will be a fourth poster in future.

“Who is next, it’s written there,” Kipyegon said, pointing to the blank space on the wall next to her poster. “One day, one time, it will happen.”

Kenya’s three-time Olympic champion got the track and field world buzzing with her audacious bid to run a sub four-minute mile, aided by latest track suit and spikes innovations and a shield of pacesetters. She did manage to lower her own mile world record of 4:07.64, but not dip below four minutes (her timing of 4:06.42 will however not be considered official).

Less than a fortnight after that, Kipyegon turned up for an official meet in Eugene and shattered her own 1,500m world record with a 3:48.68 finish. A little over a month from now, Kipyegon will turn up for the World Championships in Tokyo looking to defend her 1,500m and 5,000m titles.

Sub-4 or not, this Kenyan track and field great remains in a league of her own — in constantly seeking to push her personal boundaries at 31 while hoping to inspire a generation of women.

That’s where, despite falling short, the sub-4 challenge was beyond the outcome for Kipyegon. The four-time Olympic and six-time Worlds medallist felt a different kind of fandom after that, having young girls walk up to her at the airport for a chat and wait in line to click pictures with her.

“This (sub-4 challenge) has touched many hearts of young women. I have so many young girls telling me that I’m an inspiration to them. It was really emotional for me. I will keep motivating the young generation to know that they have to go out there and just push themselves,” Kipyegon said in a virtual media interaction on Thursday organised by World Athletics.

That failed attempt taught her many things, but none bigger than the fact that she is a strong woman. “It was a tough event, with the set up and the whole world waiting for me to send a message to the girls. So to try what no woman has ever tried before, I believed in myself that I am a strong woman,” she said.

“For me the goal was to be the first woman to run under four minutes in the mile. I would say I didn’t do what I wanted to do, but it was a message sent out that it is possible — one day, one time. If it doesn’t happen to me, it will happen to someone.”

Will she give it another crack? Kipyegon pointed to Kipchoge’s poster, and the empty space on the wall for another one. “I will not lose hope,” she said. “I will keep going.”

She did keep going after that, having lowered her 1,500m record last month and turned her focus to next month’s Worlds. That’s massive work through a hectic three-month period of a long and demanding season. “I still have the drive,” she said. “It’s the mindset, you know. If you set your mind that you want to achieve this, it’s all about the mind. It’s also about preparation, being patient, and about what you want to still achieve for the next generation to look up to you.”

Wearing her favourite t-shirt with “everyone watches women’s sport” printed on it, Kipyegon passionately talks about elevating the stature of women’s sports. Calling herself “a good example of mothers coming back stronger than before”, she singles out the 2019 Doha Worlds, where she won the 1,500m silver coming back from maternity break, as an event that “made me who I am today”.

Today, she is a world record holder in the mile and 1,500m, a three-time Olympic gold medallist in 1,500m, and the holder of a dominating double (1,500m-5,000m) at the 2023 Worlds eyeing an encore in 2025.

“I’m well, healthy, injury free. Championships is about medals, not about world record. If the race is going to be fast, (even a) world record can happen. But mostly, the focus will be on the medal,” she said.