Nuguse's Fitness Plus Faster Pacing Could Lead To Something Special On Sunday In Millrose Games' Signature Event

By David Woods for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photo

NEW YORK – When Yared Nuguse nearly broke a world indoor record in the mile a year ago at the Millrose Games, everyone was surprised. If he breaks it Sunday, no one would be.

That’s how transformative Nuguse’s year was in 2023. He ran the second-fastest indoor mile (3:47.38) of all time in February, then the fourth-fastest outdoor mile (3:43.97) in September. You would have to go back to Steve Scott in the 1980s to identify a miler running historic times so many months apart.

“I feel like I’m really good at staying consistent for like a long period of time,” Nuguse said Friday at a pre-meet news conference.

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His time last year was an American record and unexpectedly close to the world record of 3:47:01 by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha from 2019. Returning from that race is runner-up Neil Gourley of Great Britain (second, 3:49:46) and Spain’s Mario Garcia Romo (fifth, 3:51.79).

Also in the mile for the 116th Millrose Games are Great Britain’s George Mills and Americans Hobbs Kessler and Cooper Teare. The 20-year-old Kessler, the road mile world champion, is coming off 3:33.66 for 1,500 meters (equivalent to a 3:50.76 mile) in Boston last Sunday. Teare won the U.S. cross country title Jan. 20 in Richmond, Va. Teare retains the collegiate mile record of 3:50.39 from 2021.

Nuguse won a road mile Dec. 9 in Honolulu in 3:56.58, with Kessler third in 3:57.12. More reflective of Nuguse’s fitness was running third in a 5,000 in 13:02.09 in Boston on Jan. 26. He trailed Edwin Kurgat (12:57.52) and Mills (12:58.68).

“Having done that in the 5K makes me feel like I’m ready to do something special in the mile,” Nuguse said.

Ray Flynn, the former Irish miler who is the Millrose meet director, said a pacesetter is supposed to run the first half-mile in 1:52, or faster than a year ago. Flynn said the target then was Kejelcha’s meet record of 3:48.46.

Nuguse, 24, is the son of Ethiopian immigrants who grew up in Louisville, Ky., and was an NCAA champion at Notre Dame.

He follows in the spikeprints of Scott, who in 1983 ran an indoor mile in 3:52.28 in February and an outdoor mile in 3:49.21 in August. Scott was third indoors behind Eamon Coghlan’s 3:49.78, a world record lasting 14 years.

“We have to reset our mind-set now to what’s possible,” Flynn said. “It’s a new level now for the top athletes from what it used to be. They can do it.”

Nuguse said his training load is greater now than a year ago and he feels fitter. He said he is ready to be “a fraction of a second” under his indoor personal record.

What would that mean? World record.

“Everything is so fun, so electrifying, in that place, in the Armory,” Nuguse said. “The whole crowd was going nuts. Even last year, when I was trying to get the American record, it was just so motivating.”

No American has held the indoor mile record since Dick Buerkle clocked 3:54.93 on Jan. 13, 1978, at College Park, Md.

Nuguse is aiming at next week’s nationals at Albuquerque, N.M., in a bid to make indoor worlds, set for March 1-3 at Glasgow, Scotland. He said he is not concerned about detracting from a buildup to the Paris Olympics.

For instance, in the 2016 indoor worlds at Portland, Ore., the gold and bronze medalists in the 1,500 meters, Matthew Centrowitz and Nick Willis, took those respective medals at the Rio Olympics five months later.

“Worlds is still worlds,” Nuguse said, “but I’m not going to be as invested as at the Olympics.”

Other milers to watch at Millrose – Josh Kerr and Cole Hocker – are in the 2-mile, pitted against Grant Fisher. Britain’s Mo Farah has held the world indoor record of 8:03.40 since 2015, and Galen Rupp’s American record of 8:07.41 has lasted since 2014.

Kerr won the Millrose 3,000 meters last year in 7:33.47.

“We’re just following that path again,” he said.

Kerr, the reigning 1,500 world champion, said he is unsure whether he will race at indoor worlds. He said he is only considering it because the meet is in his native Scotland.

At 3,000, Hocker was the NCAA champion in 2021 and U.S. champion in 2022.

Coleman Seeks Third Straight Millrose Win

>> World record-holder Christian Coleman goes for a third straight victory in the 60 meters. “I really feel like the beginning of the season is the most difficult for track athletes because it’s the unknown,” he said. “You’ve been training well, and then you just want to go out there and compete at a high level. You really don’t know what to expect.”  Canada’s Andre De Grasse is racing indoors for just the second season since 2016, when he won at the Millrose Games in 6.61. DeGrasse, 29, won the 200 at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. “I want to work on my start, get back in the 100-meter mix,” he said.

>> The women’s Wanamaker Mile is a rematch between Australia’s Jessica Hull and American record-holder Elle St. Pierre, who went 1-2 at Boston in the 3,000. St. Pierre, less than a year after childbirth, nearly set an American record. Josette Andrews of nearby Tenafly, N.J., was second in this race in 2022 and 2023.

>> In the women’s 60 hurdles, Tia Jones climbed to No. 5 on the all-time list with a 7.72 at Boston. The 23-year-old from Marietta, Ga., races veterans: former hurdles world champions Danielle Williams, 31, of Jamaica and Nia Ali, 35, and defending Millrose champion Devynne Charlton, 28, of the Bahamas, the 2022 world indoor silver medalist.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007