Cathal Dennehy: Will a woman soon break four minutes for the mile?  

Back in the 1950s, the journey towards the first sub-four mile captured the world’s attention in a way no athletic feat has before or since. Now it's women's turn. 

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon celebrates after winning the Women's 1500m final of the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League athletics finals at the Roi Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on September 14, 2024. Pic: NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images 

It couldn’t happen. Surely. Or could it? Is it possible for a woman to run a sub-four-minute mile?

The more things change in athletics – track surfaces, training techniques, shoe technology – the more we end up circling back to where we once were: with runners arguing about arbitrary units of time and distance and whether a certain feat is achievable or not. Except this time, it’s about whether a woman can break the illustrious barrier.