15-year-old athletic prodigy Sam Ruthe became the youngest person in history to break the four-minute mile barrier on Wednesday night in New Zealand.
Competing at a wet Go Media Stadium in Auckland, the young talent crossed the finishing line in a time of 3:58:35, becoming the 49th New Zealander to achieve the feat. But the youngest by some distance.
He was helped during the race by Kiwi Olympian Sam Tanner, who ultimate took victory in the race. Using the Paris Games contender as a pacemaker for the latter stages of the race. Tanner, Ruthe and fellow runner Ben Wall all went under the four-minute time barrier in the race.
Teen sensation Ruthe makes history
To put Ruthe’s mile time into perspective, current 1500m world record holder and two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway ran 3:58:07 at the age of 16 and 250 days – the previous youngest individual to go under the mark according to Athletics New Zealand.
The teen sensation boasts the second fastest time by an U18 over the 3000m distance (7:56:18) behind Ethiopia’s Hailu Ayalew, and is 13th in the U20 category. Over 1500m, Sam ranks sixth in the U20 category (3:41:25) and the world leader in the U18 ranks.
He can also showcase a number of impressive accolades on his resumé. He is currently New Zealand’s senior men’s national champion over both the 1500m and 3000m distances, sharing the first honour with Olympian Tanner as they dead-heated earlier in the summer.
Watch Sam Ruthe’s run to glory
Athletics New Zealand streamed Wednesday’s event, and you can watch it right here:
