Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse at the Millrose Games (© Taylor Sims and Jason Suarez)
Olympic and world indoor medallists Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse will renew their rivalry in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games – a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting – in New York on 8 February.
Great Britain’s Kerr, the world 1500m champion, won the world indoor 3000m title on home soil in Glasgow last year and went on to secure 1500m silver at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In both Glasgow and Paris he finished one place ahead of USA’s Nuguse.
Nuguse is a two-time Wanamaker Mile winner who clocked 3:47.83 in 2024 and his PB of 3:47.38 in 2023, while Kerr has an indoor mile PB of 3:48.87, set in 2022. Those times by Nuguse are No.2 and No.3 on the world indoor mile all-time list behind the world record of 3:47.01 set by Yomif Kejelcha in Boston in 2019. Kerr also raced at the Millrose Games last year and set a world best for two miles of 8:00.67.
They have never raced each other in an indoor mile, but Kerr won their sole clash over the distance outdoors at the Prefontaine Classic last year, while their career outdoor 1500m head-to-head record in finals stands 3-2 in Nuguse’s favour.
In New York they will be joined by USA’s world road mile champion Hobbs Kessler and Britain’s Neil Gourley, who each finished second to Nuguse in the past two editions of the Wanamaker Mile, plus Italy’s Pietro Arese and Azeddine Habz of France.
Another Olympic medallist and world indoor champion announced for this season’s World Indoor Tour Gold is Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma who will race the 800m at the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava on 4 February.
The 23-year-old won the world indoor 800m title in Glasgow last March and was then runner-up to Keely Hodgkinson at the Paris Olympics.
Her competition in Ostrava will include Benin’s world indoor bronze medallist Noelie Yarigo, Slovakia’s European silver medallist Gabriela Gajanova of Slovakia and Oceanian record-holder Catriona Bisset of Australia.
