INDIANAPOLIS -- Bettering the men's world indoor record* for the mile and the American indoor record for 1500 meters en route, Yared Nuguse (Boulder, CO/USATF Colorado) earned recognition as the fifth USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2025.
Running at the 117th edition of the Millrose Games at the historic New York City Armory, Nuguse outran Hobbs Kessler to win the NYRR Wanamaker Mile in 3:46.63 to take down the world record of 3:47.01 that was set by Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha in 2019.
He also bettered his own American record for the mile, a 3:47.38 from 2023, and improved his own AR in the 1500 en route with a 3:31.74. His ratified AR in the 1500 was 3:33.22 from 2023. Nuguse, the bronze medalist in the 1500 at the Paris Olympic Games last summer, needed every bit of his speed to hold off Kessler, who also bettered the ratified world record with a 3:46.90 in second and went past 1500 in 3:31.89.
Other top performances from last week:
Grant Fisher bettered the world record in the men's 3000 at the Millrose Games, edging Olympic 1500 gold medalist Cole Hocker to win in 7:22.91 and knock more than five seconds off the ratified American record.
Josh Hoey claimed the American indoor record in the men's 800 with a 1:43.90 victory at the Millrose Games, trimming .31 off the ratified AR set by Donavan Brazier in 2021. Hoey moved to No. 3 on the all-time world indoor performer list.
Jacious Sears won the women's 60 at the Millrose Games in a world-leading 7.02, moving to equal No. 8 on the all-time U.S. performer list.
Katie Moon cleared a world-leading 4.82/15-9.75 to win the women's pole vault at the Millrose Games.
Masai Russell's world-leading 7.76 gave her the win in the women's 60 hurdles at the Millrose Games.
* – all world records are subject to ratification by World Athletics, and American records are subject to verification by the USATF Records Committee.
Now in its 24th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2025 Winners: January 15, Zariel Macchia; January 22, Conner Mantz; January 29, Katelyn Tuohy; February 5, Ethan Strand; February 12, Yared Nuguse.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.
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