Halimah Nakaayi: Training with Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan Pushed Me Beyond My Limits

Halimah Nakaayi: Training with Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan Pushed Me Beyond My Limits

Abigael Wafula 16:13 - 31.07.2025

Halimah Nakaayi credits training with elite athletes like Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan for transforming her mindset and reigniting her competitive drive ahead of the World Championships.

Halimah Nakaayi has explained how training alongside great women like Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan has shaped her mindset.

The 2019 world 800m champion revealed that she has learnt how to chase success beyond her limits, with lessons from the three-time Olympic 1500m champion and the reigning Olympic marathon champion.

Halimah Nakayi worked with Sifan Hassan’s coach Tim Rowberry in the lead-up to the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

However, she was forced to relocate from the US back to Kenya owing to the expensive lifestyle. Halimah Nakaayi pointed out that she had to pay her coach a lot of money, something she could not keep up with for long.

She then decided to join world record holders Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, who also work with Faith Kipyegon and Eliud Kipchoge.

Halimah Nakaayi: Faith Kipyegon, Sifan Hassan Have Inspired Me

Halimah Nakaayi
Halimah Nakaayi. PHOTO: NNRunning.

“The group I am with, like Kipyegon, I have been with Sifan Hassan, and these are very strong ladies. Training with them lifts you from your comfort zone,” Halimah Nakaayi told the Daily Monitor.

“You train in uncomfortable situations. I have been working hard, but now I feel I am just beginning. I am just beginning to see where I exactly want to go.”

Halimah Nakaayi has already started her 2025 season, competing in a series of Diamond League Meetings including Xiamen, Keqiao, Rabat, Eugene, Monaco and London.

Halimah Nakaayi then returned to Uganda to win the 1500m at the National Track & Field Championships in Namboole Stadium.

Nakaayi, representing the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Athletics Club, finished the race in 4 minutes and 11.45 seconds.

“I feel happy. I wanted to do something for my club, UWA,” a confident Nakaayi stated after her victory over Brenda Chekwemoi of Prisons and Scarlet Chemutai of Police.

Her recent performances, consistently clocking under 1:58.00 in the 800m, position her, alongside Olympic steeplechase silver medalist Peruth Chemutai, as a top contender for Uganda at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September.