Kiwi teen running sensation Sam Ruthe clocked a world record at yesterday’s Sir Graeme Douglas International athletics meeting in Auckland and has another in his sights: becoming the youngest person to break the four-minute mile barrier.
Ruthe, 15, came second in the 1500m at Waitakere’s Trust’s Stadium in a time of 3:41.25 – taking more than five seconds off his previous best of 3:46.41.
In doing so, he became the fastest 15-year-old in the world over the distance, beating Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s previous record of 3:42.44.
Olympian Ingebrigtsen, now 24, is the current world record holder in the short track 1500m, the 2000m and the 3000m, and holds the world best time over the two mile distance.
Hopes would have been high for a fast time for Ruthe yesterday given the warm conditions and his recent form – claiming the New Zealand senior 3000m title (in a world record time for his age) and recording a 4:01.72 mile in Whanganui – but for him breaking Ingebrigtsen’s record was a bonus.
“I wasn’t exactly targeting that,” Ruthe said afterwards. “I just went into this race hoping to do the best that I could in terms of placement and it’s just a bonus to get his record.”
The pace was high from the start for the field of 18 athletes, with Ruthe, fourth at the final bend, making his move on the home straight, passing two competitors on the inside to come second behind Japan’s Ryoji Tatezawa.
“I was actually quite lucky that they both moved out quite wide so I could find the gap,” he said.
In recording such a sharp time, Ruthe hopes to have qualified for an upcoming mile race in Australia where he hopes to go under four minutes.
Ingebrigtsen currently holds the record as the youngest to break the famed barrier when he recorded a 3:58.07 mile in 2017 when aged 16 years and 250 days.
Ruthe, from Tauranga, turns 16 on April 12.
Of his recent success, he said: “I couldn’t have imagined it before this season. It’s so much fun.”
Ruthe has running pedigree in the family; his parents, Ben and Jess, were both competitive runners, as were his grandparents.
Ben told 1News: “I just keep getting surprised by him. Each time he does something I think ‘that’s kind of it’. We can’t believe it, really.
“He’s lucky he’s got talent but he’s also surrounded by people who help him. What I really love about the way he’s doing this this season is the way he handles himself, the way he looks after the people around him, and how grateful he is of the team he has around him. At 15 years old, that means a lot to me and Jess.”
Jess said they kept Sam away from competitive running until the age of 13 when they felt he was ready for the training and competition.
She said Sam was born premature and had issues with his lungs for which he required major surgery.
“We thought he would have problems with his lungs but it’s the opposite. His lungs are his strength," Jess said.
“He had to fight so hard and he’s still fighting.
“It’s a bit surreal when it’s your own son.”
Tune into 1News at 6pm to watch reporter Kate Wells' story on Sam Ruthe and his family
SHARE ME