British middle-distance runner Isabelle Boffey (© Getty Images)
Sixteen-year-old Sam Ruthe of New Zealand and Britain’s Isabelle Boffey produced eye-catching performances at the John Thomas Terrier Classic, held at Boston University on Friday (30) and Saturday (31).
Ruthe, competing indoors for the first time in his career, clocked an outright world U18 best of 3:48.88. Not only does that performance make him the third-fastest U20 athlete of all time – despite having almost three more years in that age group – it also places him 11th on the senior world short track all-time list, just 0.01 behind 2023 world champion Josh Kerr.
He also smashed the national short track record of 3:51.06, which had been held by Nick Willis since 2016, and the outright national record of 3:49.08, set outdoors back in 1982 by John Walker, the 1976 Olympic 1500m champion.
"I flew out here three days ago from New Zealand, travelling for 50 hours," said Ruthe, who earlier this month ran 1:45.86 for 800m and 3:53.83 for an outdoor mile back in his home country. "My legs were feeling a bit heavy before this, so I think I can run even faster, but I was super stoked with that."
Boffey, meanwhile, took two-and-a-half seconds off her short track PB to win the women’s 800m in 1:57.43, elevating her to eight on the world short track all-time list.
Ruthe ran an incredibly well-judged and even-paced race, tracking Belgium’s Pieter Sisk for most of the way. Sisk led by half a second at the half-way point and remained just ahead of the New Zealand teenager at the bell, but he was unable to maintain that pace on the final lap. Ruthe, meanwhile, hit the front and closed with a 28.38-second circuit to cross the finish line in 3:48.88.
Sisk held on for second place in a Belgian short track record of 3:50.31 while Davis Bove took third place in 3:51.08.
Just 24 hours prior, Boffey had adopted a similarly effective last-lap move to charge to victory in the women’s 800m.
USA’s Roisin Willis led through 200m (27.74) and 400m (56.95) with Boffey in third place behind Gladys Chepngetich. Boffey moved up into second place at the bell, with Roisin still holding the lead (1:27.65), but the Briton strode to the front and kicked away to win in 1:57.43.
Boffey’s winning time took almost two seconds off her outright PB of 1:59.30, set outdoors in 2023. She now sits just two places behind compatriot Keely Hodgkinson, the Olympic champion, on the world short track all-time list.
Willis held on for second place in 1:57.97, breaking Ajee Wilson’s North American short track record. Chepngetich finished third in 1:58.81, taking 0.02 off Pamela Jelimo’s Kenyan short track record.
Elsewhere in Boston, Annika Reiss won the women’s mile in 4:24.38. Katie Snowden took the women’s 3000m in 8:39.89 while Ireland’s Darragh McElhinney won the men’s event in 7:38.96.