Olympic 1500m champion Jacob Ingebrigsten was still on fire as he trounced the reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot in the homestretch, at the famed Bowerman Mile.
Ingebrigsten gradually began to catch up to Stewart McSweyn who was the pace maker from the USA, the Aussie gave Nowak a push at 900 meters to indicate that it was time to step off the track.
The 20 year-old Norwegian took the lead of the race at the 250 meters mark and was never threatened. He won the race in 3:47.24, which is a world-leading time, national record and Diamond League record and made him history’s ninth fastest outdoor performer. It’s also the fastest outdoor time in the world in seven years, since Ayanleh Souleiman ran the previous Prefontaine record, 3:47.32 in 2014.
“Racing at Hayward Field is always a great experience for milers,” said Ingebrigsten, who made his Prefontaine debut back in 2017 as a precocious 16-year-old. “I feel this is my home meet, after Oslo of course.”
McSweyn, seventh in the Olympic final, crossed the line in 3:48.40, just three-hundredths of a second off the national record he set in Oslo in July. “I feel like I’m still going pretty well since the Olympics, so the big focus was just to get out hard and see what I had,” he said. “I felt good until probably about 250 to go, and then when Jakob went I tried to go, but he was just too good. I’m happy the way that I held on, but I was definitely getting pretty tired that last lap.”
Cheruiyot came home in 3:51.17 to claim a third spot, with fellow Kenyan Ronald Kwemoi taking fourth in 3:51.63.
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