Yomif Kejelcha on his way to winning the mile at the Millrose Games (© Kirby Lee)
Yomif Kejelcha’s 3:47.01 clocking at the Bruce Lehane Invitational in Boston has been ratified as the world indoor mile record.
Before that race on 3 March, the 21-year-old Ethiopian had narrowly missed out on breaking world indoor records in his two previous races. He finished just 0.01 outside the world indoor mile record at the Millrose Games, clocking 3:48.46, and was then beaten to the world indoor 1500m record in Birmingham one week later when compatriot Samuel Tefera won in 3:31.04.
But in Boston, Kejelcha finally succeeded in getting his name into the record books and broke the previous mark of 3:48.45 that had been set by Hicham El Guerrouj in Gent on 12 February 1997.
Kejelcha passed through the 1500m checkpoint in 3:31.25, the third-fastest indoor clocking in history for that distance, and covered the final 400m in 56.26. His winning time of 3:47.01 is the fastest mile ever recorded by an Ethiopian athlete, indoors or out.
IAAF
