When Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha stepped onto the track last Saturday, he had one goal: break the world record. Well, he didn’t do it. In fact he came within a heart shattering .01 seconds of the indoor mile world record, currently at 3:48.45. But although he didn’t break it, his race, along with the rest of the Millrose Games this past weekend, makes me very excited for the future of running.
The NYRR Millrose Games--one of the biggest indoor track and field meets of the year-- was held on February 7 and 9 at The New Balance Track and Field Center at The Armory in New York City. The meet consists of many professional level races, but also many youth races such as the “Fastest Kid in the World” 55m dash.
The biggest news of the night was Kejelcha’s world record attempt, missing the mile time by only milliseconds, with a time of 3:48.46.
“I’ll try it again this year. I’m confident I can break it,” Kejelcha said in a post race interview with FloTrack.
Both the men’s and women’s 800m dash were also exciting races as Michael Saruni of Kenya set a world lead (the fastest time in the world for that season) as well as national, meet and Armory records in a time of 1:43.98. Behind him, placing in second, Donavan Brazier’s 1:44.41 set a new American record.
In the women’s field American Ajee Wilson’s time of 1:58.60 also set a world lead and national, meet and Armory records. Behind her, Natoya Goule set a Jamaican national record in 1:59.13.
There were also countless numbers of personal and season best times, along with additional meet and national records, not mentioned but listed on the Millrose Games official website.
The youth also showed up ready to race as they too set new records and proved they deserved to be among some of the best in the world. Both the youth girls’ and boys’ 4x200m relay winners set meet records along with records set in the boys’ 400m dash, among other races.
While all of the youth races might not have been record-shattering, having these young athletes at the Games makes me very hopeful for the future of this sport. These young runners, already fast enough to compete at this prestigious meet, are the ones who might grow up to be the next Mo Farah or Usain Bolt, representing their country
internationally and pushing the sport to its limits. And that makes me very excited.
As the youth showcased their talent, and Kejelcha chased a 45 year old record, this year’s Games had a lot to talk about. The number of records set, and best times had, shows the rapidly improving field of runners, both young and old.
I'll be interested to see where the season takes these athletes, and especially to watch Kejelcha’s next attempt at the record!
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