This year’s Diamond League meet in Oslo has proven to be one for the record books, with countryman Jakob Ingebrigtsen and 24-year-old American Yared Nuguse showing off in the 1500 meters, but it was 17-year-old Ethiopian runner Birke Haylom who truly left us speechless.
Haylom broke away from the pack in the women’s Dream Mile on Thursday, crossing the finish line in 4:17.13, breaking Zola Budd’s previous world U20 record, set in 1985, by .44 seconds.
Haylom has had a strong season thus far, running a personal best of 4:01.86 in the 1500 meters at May’s Diamond League meeting in Doha and setting an African U18 1500-meter record of 3:57.66 the same month in Rabat.
In Thursday’s match-up, Haylom broke away from the star-studded field going into the last lap, leaving Australian Jessica Hull and American Cory McGee fighting for position. The blistering pace resulted in second-place finisher McGee running a 4:18.11, making her the third-fastest American female miler ever, and Hull breaking the Oceanian record in 4:18.24.
Seven of the top 10 finishers ran personal bests, including Americans Nikki Hiltz, who finished in fourth with a 4:18.38, and 10th place-finisher Josette Andrews, who ran a 4:21.98.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
