Three-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon revealed how torturous it was to get herself together in defending her title after a controversy-ridden 5000m final at the Paris Olympic Games.
Kiyegon grabbed a historic 1500m hat-trick, with an Olympic record, becoming the first woman to strike a three-peat over the distance.
She timed 3:51.29 ahead of Australia's Jessica Hull (3:52.56) and Great Britain's Giorgia Bell (3:52.61— a national record). Kipyegon broke the duck at Rio 2016 before defending it in Tokyo 2020.
"After what I went through in the 5000m, I didn't sleep until yesterday (Friday)," she said.
"I don't know how to describe this. I thank God, my family and all those who supported me. I didn't know I would come back so strongly after what happened to me in the 5000m final. It took a lot of my energy and mental strength."
In the longer distance, she finished second behind Beatrice Chebet, was disqualified for obstruction after a tussle with Ethiopia's Tsegay Gudaf and then had the silver medal reinstated after an appeal by Team Kenya officials. " I was in thoughts the whole night," she said.
However, she is grateful for her support system, led by her husband Timothy Kitum— the 2012 London Olympics 800m bronze medallist - their daughter, her management and fans.
"The first person to talk to me, for more than an hour, was my husband. He told me "You've got this over the 1500m. I believe in you.
"My daughter told me in the semis you were really good and I told her I would make her proud in the final," said Kipyegon.
The race panned out as expected, fast and competitive, thus the Olympic record.
" It was really good. I knew anybody could win a championship. To come out here, win and make history is unbelievable. I feel like I am going crazy," she said, adding; "I knew the Olympic record was going down. Everybody was in good shape."
Susan Ejore was ecstatic after a fifth-place finish on her Olympic debut with a 3:56.07 lifetime best.
"To make the final on Olympic debut and finish with a personal best... I don't know how to describe it," she said.
"It was tough, hot pace from the word go. We were just hanging on for our dear lives," she chuckled.
She hopes to work on her finishing after "falling short in the last 150m."
Newly crowned 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi said it was tough to extend the country's dominance over the race, following in the footsteps of Wilfred Bungei (Beijing 2008), David Rudisha (London 2012 and Rio 2016) and Emmanuel Korir (Tokyo 2020).
" I was under a lot of pressure (to keep the title). I talked to Rudisha and he asked me to properly execute my tactic (front-running). I decided to copy his execution from London in 2012 when he broke the world record," said Wanyonyi.
" I had a conversation with my coach and we decided that I have to push for a 1:41 to be in contention for the gold medal. I had trained for it, especially the last 100m."
Training in Eldoret was a masterstroke. "I want to thank the National Olympic Committee for allowing us to train in Eldoret. I don't know if I would have won had we trained in Nairobi," he observed.
Wanyonyi, who raced to a 1:41.19 personal best ahead of Canadian Marco Rop (1:41.20 - area record) and Algerian Djamel Sedjati (1:41.50), has already shifted focus to the Diamond League meetings in Silesia and Brussels.
