US distance duo Grant Fisher and Yared Nuguse made history at the Millrose Games, breaking the world indoor records for the men’s 3000m and mile respectively at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in New York on Saturday (8).
There had been murmurs of potential record-breaking performances in the build-up to the meeting, but with high quality fields assembled in every discipline, most athletes were more focused on trying to achieve victory.
In the 3000m, double Olympic bronze medallist Fisher had been locked in a battle with Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker for most of the way. They passed through the first 1000m in 2:29.08, then Fisher led through 2000m in 4:58.01 before Hocker hit the front with three laps to go.
Fisher stayed close behind, then kicked hard off the final bend to pass Hocker and win in 7:22.91, improving on Lamecha Girma’s world indoor record of 7:23.81. Hocker finished second in 7:23.14, also inside Girma’s record.
“I’m kind of in shock,” said Fisher. “I didn’t think we’d go that fast. I thought we might be able to challenge the American record, and clearly Cole thought he was in pretty good shape too. I was happy he took the lead that far out. I tried to go past him on the back stretch of the last lap and he held me off, so I just gave it everything with 50 metres to go.
“A lot of people would say he has the best kick in the world, so to beat him like that, I’m really happy with it,” added Fisher. “That really couldn’t have turned out any better.”
Further behind, Jimmy Gressier added to his French record tally with a clocking of 7:30.18 in third. Australia’s Ky Robinson set a national record of 7:30.38 in fourth, just ahead of USA’s Dylan Jacobs (7:30.45) and Cooper Teare (7:30.62).
Little more than an hour after Fisher’s historic run, Nuguse made history of his own by winning the Wanamaker Mile in a world indoor record of 3:46.63*.
Just hours before the meeting began, world champion Josh Kerr announced his withdrawal from the race due to illness. But despite the Briton’s absence, the race produced a fitting climax to the world’s leading indoor one-day meeting.
Abe Alvarado paced the field through 1000m in 2:20.49, then Olympic bronze medallist Nuguse maintained the tempo with world road mile champion Hobbs Kessler tucked right behind. After passing through 1500m in 3:31.75, a significant improvement on his own North American indoor record, Nuguse dug deep to hold on to victory in 3:46.63. Kessler took second place in 3:46.90, also inside Yomif Kejelcha’s world indoor record of 3:47.01.
In third, Australia’s Cam Myers set an outright world U20 record of 3:47.48, having passed through 1500m in a world U20 indoor record of 3:32.67, with France’s Azeddine Habz setting a European indoor record of 3:47.56 in fourth.
“The race tactic was the same [without Josh Kerr], I was going to go to the front and grind no matter what anyone else did,” said Nuguse after achieving his third Wanamaker Mile victory. “I have more confidence from the Olympics, more confidence in my training. I’m not afraid of the front any more. I knew that if I let up anywhere, they were going to pass me, so I was like ‘don’t let up, not even for a second’, and just hoped that I had more than they did at the end.”
(World Athletics)
