Faith Kipyegon trains in a special skinsuit for her sub-four minute mile attempt. Photograph: Nike

Kenya’s Olympic champion, backed by Nike’s sports scientists, is striving for the perfect formula to set a new world record

Eight seconds. It’s barely enough time for most people to tie their shoelaces.

But when you are Faith Kipyegon, and you are trying to become the first woman to shatter the four-minute mile barrier, those eight seconds constitute a chasm.

But now we know how the 31-year-old Kenyan, who set the mile world record of 4min 7.64sec in 2023, intends to close the gap and emulate Sir Roger Bannister’s historic feat.

Olympic champion Gabby Thomas followed and heckled by gambler at Grand Slam Track meet Read more

On Thursday her sponsor Nike revealed that when Kipyegon makes her sub-four attempt in Paris on 26 June, she will be wearing a special aerodynamic skinsuit with “3D-printed aeronodes”, along with new super spikes, which are even lighter and more propulsive.

The skinsuit draws on similar technology used by British Cycling and British Skeleton when they dominated the Summer and Winter Olympics between 2008 and 2018.

Crucially, the aeronodes are able to create a “turbulence” effect designed to reduce the amount of wind resistance acting on the body when Kipyegon runs.

“The magic with the aeronodes on the suit and leg sleeves is that it creates a controlled turbulence area,” said Lisa Gibson of Nike’s innovation lab.

“It splits the air in front of Faith and creates smaller eddies behind her to reduce drag.”

Reducing resistance is clearly a key factor in the attempt.

A recent scientific paper by Prof Rodger Kram, a physiologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, suggested that Kipyegon could run a sub-four minute mile by using pacemakers deployed in front and behind her to reduce drag.

The Kenyan, whose daughter is turning seven this month, will also be wearing a headband designed to further reduce drag, as well as the latest prototype of Nike super spikes, the Victory Elite FK, which have 3mm more foam and are lighter than the track spikes she wore when winning Olympic 1500m gold last year.

Faith Kipyegon celebrates gold in Paris last year, which she won in heavier spikes than the ones she plans to use in her mile attempt. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Observer

While most experts remain sceptical that Kipyegon can do it, despite the added technological assistance, the scientist behind her attempt says that confidence is building.

Brett Kirby, who worked with Eliud Kipchoge to help the Kenyan break the two-hour barrier over the marathon distance, said he understood the scepticism.

However he said he was convinced that Kipyegon could go much quicker.

“I’m a scientist and it’s all about thinking critically,” said Kirby, the senior principal scientist at Nike’s sport research lab.

“So when I first heard the idea, I was like: ‘Man, I don’t know.

It sounds really hard to get those eight seconds.’ But when we stepped back and looked at Faith in 2023, and things like her pacing – which may have initially looked optimal – we realised that there was more there.