Myers Defeats Three-Time Defending Champ Nuguse, Takes Back World Lead From 16-Year-Old Sam Ruthe; Cooper Lutkenhaus Claims U20 World Record In 600m

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

John Nepolitan PHOTOS

INTERVIEWS 

NEW YORK — Cameron Myers took the NYRR Wanamaker Mile trophy out of Yared Nuguse’s hands for the first time in four years on Sunday afternoon, surging to a world-leading 3 minutes, 47.57 seconds and making his case as the best middle-distance runner in the world.

Myers sat patiently leading the chase pack as Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran took things out hot, coming through a quarter mile in 56 seconds and a half mile in 1:53. With a quarter left, he made his move for the lead as Nuguse and Hobbs Kessler followed, setting up the three-man battle most fans expected heading into the race. 

Nuguse, the three-time defending champion, never took the lead, and neither did Kessler, who last week destroyed the 2,000 meters world record in Boston. Myers held the lead for the entire last quarter, and Nuguse and Kessler took second and third in 3:48.31 and 3:48.68, respectively.

“I just had to make the move when the time was right,” Myers said. “I think it felt right with about 400 meters to go.”

The 19-year-old Australian has run three races this winter and dominated all of them. On Jan. 16, he ran a solo 3:49.81 mile at the UW Preview in Seattle, and the next weekend, he broke the Australian and Oceanic record in the 3,000, running 7:27.57 for the win at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

His time on Sunday wasn’t particularly stunning, but that didn’t matter to him — he wanted the Wanamaker title.

“As awesome as it would have been to run 3:46 or 3:45,” Myers said, “I won the race and I beat some top athletes… just to win it feels awesome.”

Lutkenhaus Breaks U20 World 600m Record, Sahlman Breaks NCAA 800m Record

Cooper Lutkenhaus torched the U20 world record in the men’s 600, surging ahead of Jenoah McKiver to break the tape in 1:14.15. The 17-year-old now owns two world records — the other being the U18 world record in the 800 that he set last August at the USATF Championships with a ridiculous 1:42.27 performance that earned him a silver medal.

Last weekend, Lutkenhaus made his indoor professional debut on this track at the Dr. Sander Scorcher, where he broke the U20 American indoor record in the 800 with a 1:45.23 performance. 

In last weekend’s race, he led wire to wire, just as he did in many of his high school races last year. This weekend, his strategy was more reminiscent of his races at USAs last summer. McKiver took the lead early on and built a gap of nearly a second over Lutkenhaus, who lingered behind with Isaiah Jewett. At the bell, Lutkenhaus started to shorten that space, and coming around the final turn, he threw down a kick reminiscent of the one that captured the attention of track fans everywhere last summer. 

Lutkenhaus covered his last 100 meters in just 13.24 seconds — no one else did it in under 14 seconds.

A couple weeks ago, Lutkenhaus ran a 600 time trial in 1:17, and based on that, he estimated that he was in about 1:46 or 1:47 shape in the 800. He disproved that at Dr. Sander last weekend, and Sunday's performance was another indicator that even this early in the season, he’s ready to run fast.

“Honestly, the way training’s going, I’m not surprised,” Lutkenhaus said, “but it’s still a little shocking.”

Another record fell in the men’s 800, as Northern Arizona’s Colin Sahlman ran 1:44.71 to break Paul Ereng’s NCAA indoor record set in 1989.

Sahlman, like Lutkenhaus, came from behind and unleashed a massive kick. At the halfway point, he was in fourth and about half a second out of the lead, and he progressively picked up spots until he found himself in a two-man battle with On Athletics Club’s Mohammed Attaoui.

“It felt hard from the start,” Sahlman said. “I knew it was going to, and I knew I just had to stick to those guys and really trust in my last two laps.”

Sahlman ran his last 100 meters in 13.19 seconds to overtake Attaoui and earn arguably the most impressive victory of his young career.

“I was telling myself all week, like, ‘I belong there, I belong in that field,’” Sahlman said. “I told myself (that) so much that I ended up believing it… I’m really happy to come away with a win against such a talented field.”

Rajindra Campbell Takes Over World Lead In Shot Put; Ackeem Blake, Cordell Tinch Earn Wins In Sprints And Hurdles

After three consecutive scratches, Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell uncorked a massive heave on his fifth attempt in the men’s shot put, throwing it 21.77 meters (71-5.25) to take the lead in both the competition and the world.

Heading into the weekend, all eyes were on Joe Kovacs, who started what he says will be his first real indoor season. Kovacs, the second farthest shot putter in history, put up a respectable 21.21-meter throw (69-7), which ranks him second in the world this year, but he couldn’t match the Jamaican national record holder, whose 21.77-meter throw was the second farthest of his career indoors.

Meanwhile, fellow Jamaican Ackeem Blake kept his momentum rolling in the men’s 60, earning his second victory in 2026 with a 6.55-second performance. Last weekend, Blake clocked a 6.53 for the win at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, and he did it against a strikingly similar field to the one he faced today. Eloy Benitez and Jordan Anthony took second and third, respectively, both last weekend and this weekend.

Blake is currently tied for seventh in the world in the 60. Last year, he took third in the 100 at the Jamaican Championships and advanced to the semifinals at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Speaking of Tokyo, World Champion Cordell Tinch earned his first win of the new year on Sunday with a 7.52-second performance in the men’s 60 hurdles. Tinch beat a stacked field including Olympic silver medalist Daniel Roberts and US bronze medalist Dylan Beard — as well as the relatively unheralded Connor Schulman, who put up his second straight second place performance in a major indoor meet (he took second to Trey Cunningham in Boston last weekend) and is sneakily becoming a player to watch in the American hurdles scene.