Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner who competes mainly in the 1500 metres. A two-time back-to-back Olympic champion with the Games record and a two-time world champion, she is the only woman to win four global 1500 m titles and only the second woman to claim consecutive Olympic titles in the event. On the track Kipyegon has won or finished second in every major championships since 2015, and is regarded as the greatest female 1500 metres runner in history. She is the world record holder for the distance and for the 5000 metres, and the African record holder for the 1000 metres. With her time of 3:49.11 in the 1500 m, set on 2 June 2023 in Florence, she became the first and the only woman in history to break the 3:50-barrier in the discipline. Just seven days later, Kipyegon set also a 5000 m world record in Paris.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second woman to complete an Olympic distance double.
The women's 1500 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12–16 August at the Olympic Stadium.
The women's 1500 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22, 23 and 25 August.
The women's 1500 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the London Olympic Stadium on 4−5 and 7 August.
The women's 100 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 and 31 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 71 athletes from 55 nations competed at the event.
The women's 200 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 2 and 3 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 41 athletes from 31 nations competed. In successfully defending her title, Elaine Thompson-Herah became the first woman in history to win both the 100 and 200 metres titles at successive games. Her winning time of 21.53 secs, moved her to second on the world all-time list behind Florence Griffith Joyner, and broke Merlene Ottey's 30-year-old Jamaican record.
The women's 400 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 3 to 6 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 45 athletes from 34 nations competed. Shaunae Miller-Uibo won the gold medal in a personal best of 48.36 secs, a time which ranks her sixth on the world all-time list. In successfully defending her title, Miller-Uibo joined Marie-Jose Perec as the only women to win two Olympic 400 metres titles.
The men's 1500 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately fifty athletes were expected to compete; the exact number depended on how many nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 45 qualifying through time or ranking. 47 competitors from 27 nations competed. Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new Olympic record on his way to the gold medal, Norway's first medal in the men's 1500 metres. Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya took silver, returning that nation to the podium for the first time since a four-Games medal streak ended in 2008. Josh Kerr earned bronze, Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1988.
The men's 5000 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 3 and 6 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 45 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 42 qualifying through time or ranking.
The women's 5000 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 45 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 42 qualifying through time or ranking.
The men's 10,000 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 25 athletes competed. None of the 2016 medalists took part in the competition. Selemon Barega from Ethiopia won the event, with Ugandans Joshua Cheptegei, the world record holder, and Jacob Kiplimo coming second and third, respectively. All of them won their first Olympic medal.
The women's 10,000 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 29 athletes competed.
The women's 100 metres hurdles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 40 athletes from 28 nations competed. In the semifinals, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico broke the Olympic record, running 12.26 secs, to go equal fourth on the world all-time list. The following day in the final, she won the gold medal with a time of 12.37 secs. American world record holder Keni Harrison finished second to clinch silver and the bronze to Jamaica's Megan Tapper.
The women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 39 athletes from 25 nations competed.
The men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 45 athletes competed.
The women's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 1 and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 41 athletes competed.
The women's 1500 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 2 to 5 October 2019.
The women's 1500 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene from 15 to 18 July 2022.
The women's 5000 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene from 20 to 23 July 2022.
