Getty Image / Phil Walter
Sam Ruthe, a 16-year-old runner from New Zealand, just set a new world record for the fastest indoor mile ever ran by an under-18 runner. The Kiwi star was in second place for the vast majority of the race until he turned on the after burners in the final lap at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston and blew past Belgian runner Pieter Sisk, finishing 1.43 seconds ahead of the field.
Surely after setting a new world record for the fastest indoor mile ever ran by a U-18 athlete he would look completely gassed an find himself on the track catching his breath, right? Wrong. He appeared as if he was ready to do it all over again.
16-Year-Old Sam Ruthe Sets U-18 Indoor Mile World Record
Sam Ruthe comes from a long line of athletes. His parents were national champion athletes in New Zealand, according to a report on CNN, and his grandmother, Rosemary Stirling, represented New Zealand at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
His father, Ben Ruthe, was blown away by his son’s success. Telling CNN “to see him achieve (the record time) so early and at such a level is wonderful but comes with significant challenges. The time he ran today, for example, is faster than anyone has ever run in New Zealand, so (to keep developing) he needs to travel for racing and quite considerable distances. It took 50 hours to get to Boston from home but all well worth it to get good competition.”
To be clear, several records were broken on the track. He ran the fastest indoor mile of anyone under 18. But on top of that, he set a record for the fastest mile ran by a New Zealander of any age, ever.
The previous mile record for a New Zealander was held by Olympic gold medalist John Walker. He ran a 3:49:08 at 30-years-old in Norway, over 40 years ago.
A clip of Sam Ruthe finding that extra gear in the final lap and blowing past his competition quickly went viral across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. He is the blonde runner with the orange/yellow/blue singlet. Keep an eye out for his move in the final lap:
Asked about breaking the 40+ year old record and running the fastest indoor mile of any New Zealander in history, Sam Ruthe told CNN “I really didn’t expect to get Walker’s national record (today). I hoped to get it one day but that was a real surprise as I thought it may have been three or four years away. I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world.”
Those final two laps were truly electric and worth watching one more time:
He now has about 2.5 years to get ready for the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles where, if he continues to progress, he will certainly be competing for gold medals as a member of the New Zealand National Team.