It was a measure of the 29-year-old Kenyan’s performance that she left Britain’s Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir almost eight seconds adrift in 3min 57.09sec as she finally eclipsed the mark of 3:50.03 set in 2015 by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba, having missed it by just 0.30sec in Monaco last year as she became the second fastest of all time.

On this occasion Kipyegon earned the additional distinction of becoming the first woman to break 3:50.00 in the discipline as she took almost a second off the previous record.

Kipyegon had been open about her world record ambition in 2023. 

“The record is in my heart and on my mind and I hope this will be a perfect year for me,” she said on the eve of the Golden Gala.

She followed the pacemakers Brooke Feldmeier and Sage Hurta-Klecker through 400m in 1:02.37 and Hurta-Klecker was to the fore through 800m in 2:04.00, with Kipyegon on her shoulder.

As Hurta-Klecker moved to the side, Kipyegon forged on and reached 1200m in 3:05.28.

In a race of her own, she pushed again and was roared over the finish line, raising her hands to her face and then dropping to the track in delight.

Australia’s Jessica Hull was third in an area record of 3:57.29.

The entire field of the women's 1500M waited for the new world record holder to complete her lap of honour before congratulating her.

Elsewhere in the Golden Gala meeting Femke Bol produced the fastest women’s 400m hurdles time of the season as she clocked 52.43sec to win by more than a second.

The Dutch athlete, who broke the longstanding women’s world indoor 400m record as she sharpened for a year in which she challenge again the American who beat her to the world title last season, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, also set a meeting record.

World 100m champion Fred Kerley, frustrated once again in his desire to meet the Italian who beat him to the Olympic title, Marcell Jacobs, made sure he earned the satisfaction of another victory at the Golden Gala meeting normally held in Rome.

With Jacobs absent from what was due to be his second showdown in the space of five days with the same back problem that kept him out of the first in Rabat, the American won convincingly in 9.94sec, well clear of Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, who clocked 10.05.

Ethiopia’s 18-year-old world under-20 silver medallist Semba Almayew produced one of the evening’s top performances in setting a 2023 world-leading time of 9.00.71.

 Andy Diaz Hernandez of Cuba produced just one scoring effort in the men’s triple jump, a first round personal best of 17.75m, and it was enough to win despite a last-round flourish of 17.68m from Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso.

Erriyon Knighton of the United States, the 19-year-old world 200m bronze medallist, won in the ominously good time of 19.89sec.

Double world champion Grant Holloway of the United States won the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.04sec.

Another 2023 world lead was contributed by Spain’s Mohamed Katir, who won a hugely competitive men’s 5,000m in 12min 52.09, just beating Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha by 0:03sec in a race where Uganda’s Olympic champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei had to settle for fourth as the top 12 runners beat 13min.