Week in Review: U.S. runners on a roll
World indoor records by Fisher, Nuguse continue American rise that started last year
An upswing in American distance fortunes that had begun last year continued in a big way in the Millrose Games in New York City on Saturday when Yared Nuguse and Grant Fisher set world indoor records in the men’s mile and 3,000 meters, respectively.
The 25-year-old Nuguse capped the 117th edition of the iconic meet when he ran 3:46.63 in winning his third consecutive Wanamaker Mile title and the 27-year-old Fisher clocked 7:22.91 about 70 minutes earlier.
Both performances, which came on the newly resurfaced 200-meter oval at the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory, bettered marks held by Ethiopians Yomif Kejelcha in the mile at 3:47.01 and by Lamecha Girma in the 3,000 at 7:23.81. In addition, they came in races in which the second-place finishers, who were also Americans, bettered the previous world record.
Nuguse is the first American to set a world record in the men’s indoor mile since 1978 when Dick Buerkle ran 3:54.93 and Fisher is the first U.S. runner to set a world record in the indoor men’s 3,000 since the 1954 Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden when 1952 Olympic steeplechase champion Horace Ashenfelter clocked a hand-held time of 8:17.7 while on his way to a winning time of 8:53.3 for two miles.
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Together, they are the first American duo to simultaneously hold the world record in the men’s mile and 3,000 since early February of 1955, when West Santee held the mile best at 4:03.8 and Ashenfelter was the record-holder in the 3,000.
“Man, a battle for the ages right there,” Fisher said to Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports after he outkicked Olympic 1,500-meter champion Cole Hocker of the U.S. in the 3,000. “Cole is at the top of his game right now, so that’s a really good competitor and I’m glad I got the win over him. We ran fast and I’m really happy with that.”
The performances by Fisher and Hocker in the 3,000, and by Nuguse and second-place Hobbs Kessler in the mile, came roughly six months after they had been part of a U.S. Olympic team that won a meet-high five medals and produced seven top-six finishes in the six men’s middle- and long-distance races in the Games in Paris.
And approximately five months before that, U.S. men had won an event-high four medals in the three middle- and long-distance races in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
Bryce Hoppel won the 800 in that meet, while Hocker and Kessler placed second and third, respectively, in the 1,500, and Nuguse won the silver medal in the 3,000.
While the multiple top-three finishes in the two global championships last year did not come out of nowhere, U.S. men had combined for only one medal and seven top-six finishers in the middle- and long-distance races in the 2021 Olympics and the 2022 and ’23 World championships.
And not that long ago, there was a stretch from 1999-2005 when U.S. men did not have a single top-six finish in the 800, 1,500, 3,000 steeplechase, 5,000, 10,000, or marathon in the four World championships and the two Olympics contested during that time.
Fisher, who won bronze medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 in the Olympics, had looked sharp in lowering his personal best to 3:33.99 in the 1,500 while finishing second to fellow American Josh Hoey in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Brighton, Massachusetts, on Feb. 2, and he relished the opportunity to test himself against Hocker in the Millrose Games.
The two of them were running in third and fourth place when lead pacesetter Jack Salisbury came through the first kilometer in 2:28.83 on Saturday and they were in second and third when No. 2 pacemaker Casey Comber brought the field through 1,600 meters in 3:57.88 and 1,800 in 4:27.95.
Fisher took over the lead after Comber dropped out shortly after that and he was followed closely by Hocker and Ky Robinson of Australia when he went through 2,000 meters in 4:58.01.
Fisher continued to lead the field through 2,200 meters in 5:27.81, but Hocker moved into the lead shortly before he passed 2,400 meters in 5:57.32.
Given Hocker’s superb finishing kick and his personal best of 3:27.65 in the 1,500, it would have been easy to assume he had control of the race at that point. But Fisher immediately latched onto him after being passed and he was close behind when Hocker clocked 6:26.39 at 2,600 meters and 6:55.25 with a lap to go.
Hocker repelled a Fisher surge going down the final backstretch, but the former Stanford University standout regrouped going around the final curve and launched another attack entering the home straightaway that propelled him into the lead.
Behind Fisher, Hocker clocked 7:23.14, with Jimmy Gressier of France finishing third in a national record of 7:30.18, and Robinson setting an Oceania record of 7:30.38 in fourth.
Americans Dylan Jacobs and Cooper Teare followed in fifth and sixth place with times of 7:30.45 and 7:30.62.
After winning a race in which the top nine finishers ran personal bests, Fischer admitted to Johnson that Hocker is an “intimidating guy with a 400 to go.”
But he was thankful that he took the lead with three laps left in the race.
“He went that early and I could latch on and have something to chase again,” Fisher said. “I tried to get around him on the backstretch, he held me off. Tried to wait my time, and with 50 to go, going against defending 1,500-meter gold medalist… It’s a little scary, but I pulled it off.”
Like Fisher, Nuguse had never won a medal in an outdoor global title meet until the Olympics in Paris, when he finished third in a scintillating 1,500-meter final when he ran 3:27.80, Hocker placed first in an Olympic record of 3:27.65 and Josh Kerr of Great Britain was second in 3:27.79.
“It’s absolutely insane,” Nuguse told Johnson when he was asked him to explain his feelings shortly after he had become the first runner in 70 years to set a world record in the men’s mile in the Millrose Games. “I haven’t had a world record yet in my career and I’ve always really wanted one, just so I felt like, especially in the mile, I was good enough for it. Now I’m finally going to come away with it. So this feels amazing!”
Nuguse, who had run 3:47.38 and 3:47.83, respectively, in winning the Wanamaker Mile the previous two years, had been expected to clash with Kerr on Saturday. But the Brit withdrew from the race after reportedly becoming ill during the night.
Nuguse quickly moved into second place on Saturday when pacesetter Abe Alvarado went through the first 440 yards in 57.17 seconds, the 880 in 1:53.02, and the one-kilometer mark in 2:20.49.
After Alvarado dropped out, Nuguse went through 1,320 yards in 2:50.23, with his closest pursuers being Kessler, Robert Farken of Germany, Azeddine Habz of France, and 18-year-old Cameron Myers of Australia.
Nuguse’s supreme effort began to show on his face with 300 meters to go and his grimace was more pronounced as he headed into the final curve of the last lap with Kessler still in hot pursuit of him. However, he held his form well through the finish line to become the first man ever to break 3:47 indoors.
While the 21-year-old Kessler’s second-place time of 3:46.90 cut nearly two seconds off his previous best of 3:48.66 that he set while finishing behind Nuguse in last year’s Wanamaker Mile, Myers moved up two places during the last lap to finish third in 3:47.48, followed by Habz in 3:47.56, and University of Virginia junior Gary Martin in 3:48.82.
Neil Gourley of Great Britain placed sixth in 3:49.22, followed by Andrew Coscoran of Ireland in 3:49.26 and Farken in 3:49.93.
Myers’ Oceania record was the fifth-fastest indoor time in history, moved him to fourth on the all-time performer list, and crushed his world U20 indoor record of 3:53.12 that he had set in winning the Dr. Sander Scorcher meet on the same track two weeks earlier.
The European record by Habz was the sixth-fastest time ever run and moved him to fifth on the all-time performer list, with American Martin moving to eighth on the all-time performer list and to second on the all-time collegiate list.
Gourley’s personal best moved him to 11th on the all-time performer list and Coscoran’s Irish record puts him at 12th.
The top eight finishers all recorded the fastest times ever run for their respective places.
Nuguse told Johnson that winning an Olympic medal had given him a ton of confidence heading into this year.
“I always knew I was good, but I’d never really been able to show it on the world stage,” he said. “So getting to have that medal… just gave me all the confidence I needed to do awesome in ’25.
“It’s so amazing. And to get my threepeat here at the Wanamaker Mile. And also just to do it at an indoor race that I love so much. It just means the world to me.”
Add Wanamaker Mile: Andrew Coscoran surpassed a pair of big names in the annuals of Irish running when he placed seventh in the Wanamaker Mile in the Millrose Games.
Coscoran’s time of 3:49.26 broke the Irish national indoor record of 3:49.78 set by Eamonn Coghlan in 1983 and it was also faster than the Irish national outdoor record of 3:49.77 recorded by Ray Flynn in 1982.
Coghlan’s mark was the third world indoor record he set in the mile during his career and Flynn’s best had come in a 1982 meet in Oslo in which he finished third in a race in which Steve Scott of the U.S. placed first in 3:47.69 and John Walker of New Zealand was second in 3:49.08.
Scott’s time narrowly missed the then-world record of 3:47.33 held by Sebastian Coe of Great Britain and stood as the U.S. record until Alan Webb ran 3:46.91 in 2007.
Walker, the first man in history to break 3:50 in the mile and the 1976 Olympic champion in the 1,500, still holds the New Zealand national record, although Geordie Beamish just missed breaking it in last year’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, when he ran finished eighth in 3:49.09.
Flynn and Coghlan were both at the Millrose Games on Saturday, as Flynn has been the event’s meet director since 2012 and Coghlan, compatriot Marcus O’Sullivan, and American Bernard Lagat were honored for their immense success in the Wanamaker Mile.
Coghlan won the race a record seven times during his career, with Lagat winning six titles — from 2005-10 — and O’Sullivan placing first five times.
Batting a thousand: While Yared Nuguse and Grant Fisher were the most talked-about performers in the Millrose Games on Saturday after setting world indoor records in the men’s mile and 3,000 meters, respectively, fellow American Josh Hoey set a U.S. record of 1:43.90 in winning the men’s 800.
Hoey, who finished fourth in the 800 in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last year, had run a personal best of 3:52.61 in the mile, an American record of 2:14.88 in the 1,000, and another personal best of 3:33.66 in the 1,500 in winning his three previous races this season. And on Saturday, he ran the third-fastest indoor time in history while turning back defending World indoor champion Bryce Hoppel of the U.S.
Hoppel, who set a U.S. outdoor record of 1:41.67 while finishing fourth in the 800 in the Olympic Games, placed second in 1:44.19 on Saturday, followed by fellow American Jonah Koech in 1:44.82.
Sophomore Cooper Lutkenhaus of Northwest High in Justin, Texas, finished sixth in 1:46.86 to set a U.S. national prep record that bettered the previous mark of 1:47.67 set by Hoey when he was a senior at Bishop Shanahan High in Downington, Pennsylvania, in 2018.
Austin Rios-Colon of Columbia University and Puerto Rico paced the field through the first lap in 24.17, but Hoey was in the lead when he came past 400 meters in 51.01.
Hoppel was close behind Hoey when the former came through three laps in 1:17.64, but Hoey kept him at bay throughout the final 200 meters, which is when Hoppel often overtakes his fellow competitors.
“My strategy the whole time was to go out near the front and just try to lead wire to wire,” Hoey told Johnson. “I kind of just put myself on the line there, trust in God, and came through in a good time… it’s really a blessing.”
Bouncing back from a rough season: After focusing on the 400 meters during the first part of the indoor season, Will Sumner of the U.S. won the men’s 600 in 1:14.04 in the Millrose Games.
The 21-year-old Sumner had capped his freshman year at the University of Georgia in 2023 by winning the 800 in a personal best of 1:44.26 in the NCAA championships. He turned pro shortly after that and finished eighth in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. But he was hampered by injuries last year.
On Saturday, he led the field through the first 200 meters in 23.42 seconds and never trailed after that.
Brandon Miller and Isaiah Jewett were in second and third place after 400 meters, but they were unable to overtake Sumner on the last lap, as Jewett finished second in 1:14.17 and Miller was third in 1:14.37.
Junior Quincy Wilson of the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, finished fourth in 1:16.20 after setting a world U18 and national high school record of 45.66 in the 400 while winning that race in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Feb. 2.
Sumner’s winning time of 1:14.04 moved him to third on the all-time performer list, with Jewett moving to fourth, and Miller running the sixth-fastest time ever in the three-lap race.
The world best of 1:13.77 was set by Donavan Brazier of the U.S. in 2019, the same year he won the 800 in the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
When asked about his strategy on Saturday, Sumner said he “tried to just go out really hard, try to hold on, try to go out in 47 and then just see what I could do in that last lap.”
Bouncing back from a rough season II: Jacious Sears of the U.S., whose promising 2024 season was cut short by a leg injury, won the women’s 60 meters in a yearly world-leading time of 7.02 seconds in the Millrose Games.
The time gave her a large margin of victory over compatriot Celera Barnes, who placed second in 7.15, and Liberian Destiny Smith-Barnett, who finished third in 7.18.
The mark also bettered her previous best of 7.11 that she had run in winning the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Brighton, Massachusetts, on Feb. 2, and moved her into a five-way tie for eighth on the all-time U.S. performer list.
Sears had finished fourth in the 60 and sixth in the 200 as a senior at the University of Tennessee in last year’s NCAA indoor championships before running 10.77 in winning the 100 in the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, in mid-April.
The 10.77 clocking was the second fastest in collegiate history, a yearly world-leading time at that point in the season, and it moved her to second on the all-time collegiate performer list.
However, she finished ninth — in 11.73 — in the Southeastern Conference championships in May after sustaining a leg injury during the race, and that ended up being her last competition of the season.
Two for two: Olympic silver medalist Katie Moon of the U.S. won the women’s pole vault in the Millrose Games at a height of 4.82 meters (15 feet 9¾ inches).
The gold medalist in the 2021 Games in Tokyo, Moon won her second meet of the year without a loss while adding two centimeters to her previous world-leading mark.
Gabriela Leon and Emily Grove of the U.S. tied for second at 4.60 (15-1).
The 33-year-old Moon had cleared her opening height of 4.50 (14-9) on her second attempt on Saturday before making 4.70 (15-5) on her first try and 4.82 on her second. She then missed three attempts at 4.92 (16-1¾).
Hot streak continues: Whittni Morgan of the U.S. came from behind to win a deep women’s 3,000-meter race in the Millrose Games when she ran 8:28.03 in a contest in which eight runners ran under 8:39 and eight of the top nine finishers set personal bests.
The 27-year-old Morgan was in seventh place when pacesetter Laurie Barton of the U.S. came through the first kilometer in 2:51.50 and she was in sixth when Tsigie Gebreselama led the field through 2,000 meters in 5:43.37.
Gebreselama was still in first place when she came through 2,400 meters in 6:52.47 and 2,600 in 7:27.27. But there was a lot of re-ordering in the lead pack during the following lap and American Josette Andrews and Morgan were running 1-2 when Andrews hit the bell lap in 7:58.62.
Morgan was full of run at that point in the race and she made up more than two seconds on Andrews during the final 200 meters as she clocked 28.93 seconds to Andrews’ 31.16 during that segment of the race. Morgan also ran her last 400 meters in 60.18 and her third kilometer in 2:43.63.
Andrews finished second in 8:29.77, followed by Sarah Healy of Ireland in 8:30.79, Olympic 1,500-meter silver medalist Jessica Hull of Australia in 8:30.91, and Gebreselama in 8:33.13.
Like Morgan, Andrews, Healey, and Gebreselama all set personal bests, with Healey’s being a national record as well.
Morgan’s time was the second fastest in the world this year and moved her to fifth on the all-time U.S. performer list. Andrews’ mark put her in the No. 7 spot.
Eight days earlier, Morgan had moved to fourth on the all-time U.S. list when she had run a yearly world-leading time of 14:48.41 in the 5,000 in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic.
Two more national prep records: The women’s Wanamaker Mile turned out to be a very tactical affair in the Millrose Games as Olympic 1,500 bronze medalist Georgia Bell of Great Britain won a tight race in 4:23.35 while finishing ahead of the American duo of second-place Heather MacLean (4:23.41) and third-place Nikki Hiltz (4:23.50).
However, the slow early pace by the elite competitors did not seem to adversely affect senior Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura High School in California, as she set a national prep record of 4:27.97 while finishing in 11th place.
Engelhardt’s time bettered the previous record of 4:28.25 set by Mary Cain when she was a junior at Bronxville High in New York in 2013.
Engelhardt also lowered her own prep indoor best in the 1,500 with a split of 4:09.84 that topped the 4:11.53 clocking she had produced while running 4:29.34 to finish seventh in the mile in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix six days earlier.
Personal best for birthday girl: Shelby Houlihan of the U.S. celebrated her 32nd birthday last Saturday by winning the women’s mile in 4:20.30 in the Boston University Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational.
Dorcas Ewoi of Kenya finished second in 4:23.69 and Gracie Morris of the U.S. also set a personal best when she placed third in 4:29.03.
Houlihan’s time moved her to second on the all-time U.S. performer list that is topped by Ellie St. Pierre’s winning 4:16.41 clocking in last year’s Millrose Games.
Teagan Schein-Becker paced the field through 400 meters in 65.53 seconds on Saturday, but Houlihan was in the lead when she clocked 1:38.99 a lap later and when she came through 809 meters in 2:12.14.
Ewo was close behind her at that point in the race, but Houlihan had a second and a half-plus lead over the Kenyan when she came through 1,209 meters in 3:17.28 and she basically doubled her advantage over the last two laps.
She ran 31.09 seconds for the last 200 meters while running 63.02 for her final 400 and 2:08.16 during her last 800.
It was Houlihan’s second victory in eight days as she had run 8:31.56 for 3,000 meters in the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, while running in her first race since receiving a four-year suspension for previously testing positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid that is often used to increase muscle mass.
A post on Houlihan’s Instagram account was as follows: Racing on my birthday?! YES PLEASE🤩🥳4:20.3 mile at BU this weekend and a good time with friends to celebrate! Happy to come away with a birthday PR but I know there’s still more there. Next race is USA Indoor Championships in a couple of weeks!
Depth deepens: The wholesale rewriting of the all-time collegiate list in the men’s 3,000 meters continued in the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational when Villanova teammates Liam Murphy and Marco Langon finished first and second in a race that included numerous professional runners.
Murphy, a Wildcat senior, clocked 7:35.47 and sophomore Langon ran 7:36.87 in a contest in which the top seven runners ran under 7:40.
John Heymans of Belgium finished third in 7:37.05, followed by Matthew Wilkinson of the U.S. in fourth in 7:37.14 and Sam Parsons of Germany in fifth in 7:39.06.
Murphy’s time moved him to fourth on the all-time collegiate list and Langon is now in the No. 7 spot.
Six of the top seven times in collegiate history have been run during the current season, topped by the 7:30.15 clocking by North Carolina senior Ethan Strand.
Heymans led the field through the first kilometer in 2:32.91 on Saturday and Wilkinson was in first place when he came through 2,000 meters in in 5:07.46.
Murphy ran in third at that point, but he had moved up to second when fellow American Waleed Suliman led a seven-runner lead pack through 2,400 meters in 6:07.62.
Murphy was in the lead, just ahead of Heymans and Langon, when he passed 2,800 meters in 7:07.85 and he proceeded to run the last lap in 27.62 seconds while Langon ran 28.54 and Heymans clocked 29.08.
Productive weekend: USC senior Johnnie Blockburger had a hand in three victories in the University of New Mexico Collegiate Classic last Friday and Saturday.
First, he ran a personal best of 20.34 in the 200 in Friday to take over the yearly collegiate lead in that event.
Then he set another indoor best of 45.45 in the 400 on Saturday before he was credited with a 44.47-second split on his anchor leg for a Trojan quartet that won the 4 x 400 relay in 3:03.57.
Blockburger had paced USC to the three fastest times in 400 in the meet as sophomore teammate Jacob Andrews won the seventh section in 45.56 and junior William Jones ran 45.64 while finishing second Blockburger in the first section.
World leader: Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia moved to eighth on the all-time performer list in the women’s 3,000 meters when she ran 8:24.17 in a runaway victory in the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava, Czechia, on Feb. 4.
Hailu, the defending World indoor champion in the 1,500, followed a pacesetter through the first kilometer in 2:52.08 before leading the field through 2,000 meters in 5:45.8. The 23-year-old then ran her last kilometer in under 2:39 while becoming the sixth-fastest Ethiopian in history over the distance indoors.
Salome Alfonso of Portugal finished second in 8:39.25 and personal bests also went to Purity Kajuju Gitonga of Kenya in third in 8:39.36 and Innes Fitzgerald of Great Britain in 8:40.05.
Fitzgerald’s time was a European U20 record.
“The pacemaker did a brilliant job tonight,” Hailu said in a World Athletics post. “I felt comfortable and it was easy to achieve my goal at this meeting. With such a good season opener, I hope I will be able to complete our national team for the World Indoor Championships.”
Those championships are scheduled to be held in Nanjing, China, from March 21-23.
Clutch performance: Sarah Mitton of Canada tied her personal best in the women’s shot put when she unloaded a 20.68 (67-10¼) effort on her sixth — and final — attempt in the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe in Karlsruhe, Germany, last Friday.
The defending World indoor champion defeated a high-caliber field as Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands finished second at 20.09 (65-11), followed by two-time World outdoor champion Chase Jackson of the U.S. at 20.06 (65-9¾) and Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany at 19.49 (63-11½).
Schilder had initially finished third in the competition with a mark of 19.72 (64-8½), but her fourth-round effort of 20.09 that was originally ruled a foul was later counted as a fair mark after officials reviewed their initial ruling.
The 28-year-old Mitton had been very solid during the first five rounds of the competition, as she had puts of 19.94 (65-5), 19.78 (64-10¾), 19.76 (64-10), 19.30 (63-4), and 19.23 (63-1¼). But she was still trailing Jackson’s first-round effort of 20.06 (65-9¾) when she stepped into the ring for her final effort.
Her 20.68 (67-10¼) bomb tied her Canadian record that she had first set in May of last year when she won a Garage Strength meet in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, in the U.S. It was also the farthest indoor put in the world since two-time Olympic champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand produced an effort of 20.98 (68-10) in 2013.
“As soon as it leaves your hand, you know it’s a really good one,” Mitton said in a World Athletics post. “I immediately knew it was going to be over 20. It matched my outdoor PB - in February! I'm really excited about it.
“The crowd was so engaged, surely because of Yemi, the Olympic champion. You can no longer just come out and throw 19.50m and expect to win. You have to keep pushing, there’s always somebody at your heels.”
Mixed results: Long jumper Malaika Mihambo of Germany became the first woman in the world to jump seven meters or farther this year when she leaped 7.07 (23-2½) in the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe in Karlsruhe, Germany, last Friday before finishing third in the ISTAF meet in Dusseldorf on Sunday.
The 31-year-old Mihambo, the silver medalist in the Olympic Games in Paris, fouled on her first jump in Karlsruhe, leaped 6.08 (19-11½) on her second and passed on her third.
She then put everything together in the fourth round when her 7.07 effort topped the previous yearly world-leading mark of 6.98 (22-10¾) had been established by Anthaya Charlton of the University of Florida and the Bahamas.
In an effort to conserve her energy for the ISTAF meet on Sunday, Mihambo passed her final two attempts on Friday.
Although she finished third in the official standings in Dusseldorf with a best of 6.39 (20-11¾), she did have the longest jump in the field when she leaped 6.87 (22-6½) while taking off from a 40-centimeter wide zone with a 36-centimeter wide board.
In a traditional competition, jumpers take off from a 20-centimeter wide board and the front of their take-off foot cannot be beyond the edge of the board closest to the pit.
In the experimental set-up that was used in Dusseldorf, and will be in use in other designated meets this year, the length of a jumpers’ efforts were measured based on where they took off from inside a 40-centimeter wide area — and a 30-centimeter wide board — to where they landed in the pit.
While proponents of the experimental set-up think it will lead to fewer fouls and more fair jumps during a competition, Mihambo appeared to have mixed feelings after the meet in Dusseldorf.
“For me it was good to jump from the take-off zone,” she said in an leichtaathletik.de post. “As a jumper the difference wasn't that big. I think it's good that they had the idea of using the whole board. The impulse and the feedback are much better than if you only jump off the board with half a foot. It's more difficult for the audience and for yourself to judge the distance.
“Of course you still have to work on it until it's really good. Maybe there are intermediate ideas. I'm very open-minded. There are weak points, but that's what a pilot is there for, to test it.”
Developing rivalry?: Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, the Olympic silver medalist in the women’s 800 meters in the Olympic Games, opened her indoor season with a yearly world-leading time of 1:58.97 in the Meeting Metz Moselle Athlelor in Metz, France, last Saturday.
The 23-year-old Duguma had a solid margin of victory over Jemma Reekie of Great Britain, who finished second in 1:59.72.
It was Duguma’s third victory in four career races against Reekie.
Her first win had come in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, last year when Duguma ran 2:01.90 to win the gold medal ahead of Reekie, who finished second in 2:02.72.
Two liners: Dylan Beard of the U.S. won his second consecutive title in the men’s 60-meter high hurdles in the Millrose Games in New York City on Saturday when he ran a personal best of 7.38 seconds. It was the third victory in three races this season for Beard and his time moved into a four-way tie for eighth on the all-time U.S. performer list. . . . . . . Masai Russell of the U.S. won the women’s 60 hurdles in 7.76 in the Millrose Games while winning her third final of the season in the event. It was the second-fastest time of her career for Russell, who won the 100 hurdles in the Olympics Games in Paris last summer. . . . . . . USC junior JC Stevenson posted a yearly collegiate-leading mark of 8.17 meters (26 feet 9¾ inches) while winning the men’s long jump in the University of New Mexico Collegiate Classic last Friday. Stevenson’s winning mark left him nearly a foot ahead of senior teammate Johnny Brackens, who finished second at 7.88 (25-10¼). . . . . . . Atila Molnar of Hungary ran a yearly world-leading time of 45.08 in the men’s 400 meters in the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava, Czechia, on Feb. 4. The time bettered Molnar’s previous national record of 45.66 that he had run a week earlier while winning a race in Belgrade, Serbia. . . . . . . Mattia Furlani of Italy moved into a tie for first on the yearly world list in the men’s long jump when he leaped 8.23 (27-0) in the Czech Indoor Gala. Furlani set his indoor best of 8.34 (27-4½) while winning the Italian Indoor Championships last year. . . . . . . American Ronnie Baker moved into a tie for first on the yearly world list in the men’s indoor 60 meters while winning a pair of races in Europe last week. Baker’s 6.50 clocking in the Czech Indoor Gala tied him for first on the yearly world list with USC junior JC Stevenson and he followed that performance with a 6.55 clocking in the Orlen Cup Lodz in Lodz, Poland, last Saturday. . . . . . . Molly Caudery of Great Britain, the defending World indoor champion in the women’s pole vault, won her second meet of the 2024-25 season when she cleared 4.75 (15-7) in the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe in Karlsruhe, Germany, last Friday. Caudery had set a British record of 4.92 (16-1¾) in winning a meet in Toulouse, France, in June of last year, but she failed to cleared a height in the final of the Olympic Games in Paris in August. . . . . . . Stefano Sottile of Italy and Sang-hyeok Woo of South Korea became the second and third men to have cleared a yearly world-leading height of 2.31 (7-7) in the high jump this month with their performances last week. Yonathan Kapitolnik of Israel cleared 2.31 in an outdoor meet in Tel Aviv on Feb. 1, while Sottile equaled that height in an indoor meet in Weinheim, Germany, last Friday, and Woo did likewise in an undercover competition in Hustopece, Czechia, last Saturday. . . . . . . Max HeB of Germany won his second meet of the season in the men’s triple jump when he posted a yearly world-leading effort of 17.41 (57-1½) in Metz, France, last Saturday. That mark left him 10 centimeters in front of Olympic bronze medalist Andy Diaz Hernandez of Italy, who leaped 17.31 (56-9 ½).
Another big step forward: Grand Slam Track announced last week that The CW will be the exclusive U.S. broadcast home and Peacock will be the exclusive streaming home for the inaugural season of the new professional track league that is the brain child of former Olympic and World champion sprinter Michael Johnson.
The league is scheduled to stage four meets, or slams as they are being called, this year.
The first meet will be held at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, from April 4-6, with the second slam scheduled to be contested at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida, from May 2-4.
The third meet will be held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia from May 30-June 1, with the fourth slam scheduled to be contested at UCLA’s Drake Stadium in Los Angeles from June 27-20.
Olympic gold medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Marileidy Paulino, Masai Russell, Quincy Hall, and Cole Hocker are signed up to compete in all four meets, as are 18 other athletes who combined to win 19 medals in the Games in Paris.
Among those medalists are Americans Yared Nuguse and Grant Fisher, who set world indoor records of 3:46.63 in the mile and 7:22.91 in the 3,000 meters, respectively, in the Millrose Games in New York City last Saturday.
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