Australian teenager Cam Myers has broken the under-20 world record for the mile – again.
On Saturday in the US, Myers ran the indoor mile in 3:47.48 to break his own record, which he set only last month – but also equalled the Australian men’s open record (set outdoors) held by Ollie Hoare.
“I knew I had a big one in me,” Myers said.
Myers had marked himself out as a future star two years ago, at the Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne, when the then schoolboy from Canberra become the second-youngest person in the world to break the four-minute mile.
But it was his performance at an invitational race in New York on January 25 this year – when he ran 3:53.12 and cut two seconds off the world indoor under-20 mile record – that he franked his improvement from schoolboy to adult.
Saturday’s record-breaking effort, when he finished third in the indoor Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, showed the pace of his progression.
Record-breaker: Cameron Myers.Credit: Rhett Wyman
He was beaten by America’s Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, who set a new world record (3:46.63) in the mile short track.
“I was thinking 3:48 or 3:49 would be great, so I was really pleased when I crossed the line,” Myers said.
“My coach told me I’m good enough to hang with anyone in the world for 1400 metres, so I tried to do that and I managed to have a little bit left at the end. It was one of those race situations that played out perfectly. I got to conserve a lot of energy and at 200 to go, it felt like 400 to go, so it was a good time.”
Myers has broken a record in all three races he has competed in this year, given he also set a national record (7:33.12) over 3000 metres at a grand prix event in Boston.
His record-breaking run on Saturday also qualified him for the world athletics championships this September in Tokyo.
“What an amazing race. I certainly planned to run under 3:50 to get the qualifying time for Tokyo and now I’m very happy and super excited. I hear it equalled Ollie Hoare’s outdoor time. I’m just really happy,” he said.
In 2023 Myers was just nine days older than Jakob Ingebrigtsen was when the Norwegian superstar broke the famous mile mark, but the Australian schoolboy was quicker than the man who would go on to become the Tokyo Olympic champion.
Ingebrigtsen was 16 years and 250 days when he clocked 3:58.07 in May 2017 to become the youngest person ever to break four minutes. Myers was 16 years and 259 days when he ran 3:55.44.
Meanwhile, rising sprint star Torrie Lewis ran a personal best 200m of 22.65s in her first indoor race. It was 0.01s outside Melinda Gainsford-Taylor’s Australian short track record set in 1995.
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