Kenyan athletics legend Faith Kipyegon has announced plans to construct a maternity facility in her hometown of Keringet, shifting part of her focus beyond the track to address a critical healthcare gap affecting local women and newborns.
The three-time Olympic champion and five-time world title holder revealed that women in Keringet currently travel up to 35 kilometres to access hospital care, a challenge that often places expectant mothers and infants at serious risk.
The new facility, to be known as the Dare to Dream Maternity Ward, aims to provide safer, more dignified childbirth services within the community.
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Reflecting on her upbringing, Kipyegon said she has witnessed far too many women go into labour with hope, only to return home without their babies due to limited or distant medical care.
She stressed that these losses are not the result of personal failure, but of inadequate access to quality healthcare.
Kipyegon, who became a mother in 2018, recently took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the project, which also featured a children’s cross-country race.
The maternity ward will be funded by her longtime shoe sponsor, Nike, as a legacy initiative following her unsuccessful attempt to become the first woman to run a sub-four-minute mile in Paris last year.
Nike’s global head of running, Tanya Hvizdak, described the project as an investment in mothers, families and future generations, noting that access to safe childbirth care strengthens entire communities.
Once completed, the Dare to Dream Maternity Ward is expected to significantly improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes in Keringet.
