Everything you need to know about Sunday’s premiere at The Armory in New York City.
Many of the world’s top athletes will begin their season at the Millrose Games this Sunday (February 1).
The 118th edition of the prestigious meeting once again boasts a star-studded line-up, with a number of world and national record attempts expected at The Armoy.
The standout event on paper is the men’s two mile race, which pits world record holder Josh Carey against Grant Fisher, Cole Hawker and Geordie Beamish.
Kerr ran 8:00.67 for the two mile in the 2024 edition, bettering the world record of 8:03.40 set by Mo Farah in 2015.
The caliber of the two-mile race at the Millrose Games two years ago was such that Fisher (8:03.62), Hawker (8:05.70) and Beamish (8:05.73) finished third, sixth and seventh on the all-time indoor list.
Another athlete to look out for is Jake Wightman, who set the British indoor 2000m record at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston last weekend.
Wightman, who will be making his debut at the Millrose Games, has never run a race longer than two miles before, either indoors or outdoors. However, he has a personal best of 7:37.81 over the 3000m.
It is also the first time Wightman and Kerr, the 2022 and 2023 world 1500m champions, have faced each other indoors, having already run on the track, roads and cross-country.
The two-mile showdown may grab the headlines, but that doesn’t mean the Wanamaker Mile, a staple of the meet and first run at one mile in 1926 for men and 1982 for women, lacks any quality.
Last year, Jared Nuguse set a home mile world record of 3:46.63 that stood just five days after Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran 3:45.14 in Lievin.
The American is looking to win the Wanamaker Mile for the fourth time in a row, the last man to do so was Bernard Lagat, who won six straight between 2005 and 2010.
With the fastest mile in the field, Nugus will be one of the favorites, but both Hobbs Kessler and Cameron Myers could easily win in New York.
Kessler, who finished second to Nuguse last year in 3:46.90, arrives in the Big Apple off the back of Kenenisa Bekele’s world indoor 2000m record of 4:49.99 4:49.99 4;48.79 in Boston.
Meanwhile, Myers set an Australian indoor 3000m record of 7:27.57 in Boston, beating Kee Robinson’s mark of 7:30.38 last year by two seconds.
The women’s race could be just as tight, with Elle St. Pierre and Heather McLean boasting the two fastest times in the field.
St. Pierre is a three-time winner of the Wanamaker Mile (2020, 2022 and 2024) and set his best indoor time of 4:16.41, also a meet record two years ago.
The American started her season in fine form with an 8:26.54 victory in the indoor 3000m at the New Balance Grand Prix. This was even more impressive because it happened eight months after she had her second child.
Another athlete to watch will be Kenya’s Susan Ejor-Sanders, who clocked 4:20.61 in the indoor mile to finish third in the 2024 race. Australia’s Linden Hall, who won her country’s gold medal-winning 4x2km medley relay team at the World Cross Country Championships, is also in the field.
There is a strong British contingent at the Millrose Games and it is led by Dina Asher-Smith, who put in a commanding display to win the 60m in 7.08 in Boston.
To look at that time, only Daryl Neita and Asha Phillip are the only British female athletes to have gone faster over the distance.
Usher-Smith, who is now coached by coach Michael Ford at Baylor University in Texas, has the second-fastest time in the field behind only Jaycee Sears of the United States. Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred was a provisional entry but withdrew from the meet.
World Under-20 200m bronze medalist Jake O’Day-Jordan steps down for the men’s 60m and is no doubt looking for a speed job in New York. The Briton will be confident of significantly lowering his personal best of 6.76, especially after setting a British indoor 300m record of 32.63 in Virginia two weeks ago.
The likely favorite in this race will be Jamaican Akeem Blake, who has a best of 6.42. His compatriot Brian Levell won the world 200m bronze in Tokyo and will also be a threat.
2023 world 800m bronze medalist Ben Pattison opens his season this Sunday and is part of a star-studded field over the distance in the Big Apple.
Pattison last ran the 800m in Manchester five years ago and, barring disaster, is sure to cut a best of 1:49.04 indoors.
The Brit faces a strong American contingent that includes Bryce Hoppel and Donovan Brazier to name just a few. Cian McPhillips had a breakout season last year and became the first Irishman to reach the 800m final at the World Athletics Championships. He ran 1:42.15 for fourth in that race, setting an Irish record, and carried that form into this season, winning the 600m in Boston last weekend.
In the highly competitive 3000m, Hannah Nuttall and Elise Turner will face the likes of Nozomi Tanaka, Courtney Wayment and Lauren Ryan. Nuttall ran a personal best of 8:38.96 in Boston and, based on the best in the field, may have a very good chance of winning in New York.
Tanaka boasted the fastest time of 8:33.52, while Wayment and Ryan clocked 8:46.11 and 8:41.80, respectively. The big anomaly in the field, however, is American Jane Hedengren, who holds the U20 outdoor record of 8:40.03. The 19-year-old gained public attention after breaking nine high school records and two months ago set a collegiate 5,000m record of 14:44.79, the second-fastest indoor time by an American woman.
Gemma Rickey opens her 2026 campaign in the 1000m and will aim to improve on her best time of 2:39.74 from 2022. A strong field awaits the Briton, led by Olympic 800m silver medalist Tsige Duguma, while the Ethiopian makes her debut 10000000000000000000
If the race is fast and Ricky runs well, it could be that she gets close to Kelly Holmes’ 2:32.96 or even Laura Muir’s national record of 2:31.93. However, they have tough marks as Muir and Holmes are second and seventh on the all-time world indoor 1000m list.
Other athletes to watch out for at the Millrose Games are Cooper Lutkenhaus in the men’s 600m, Joe Kovacs in the men’s shot put and Katerina Stefanidi in the women’s pole vault.
