I’m tired of saying it, so I won’t say it again, but man track athletes are crushing this Olympic year. We have started stronger than might be expected. The curious and exciting part for the U.S. fans is the sheer numbers of records coming from their camp.

After two world indoor records were broken earlier last month, we felt like we might have been given a sweet treat as a reward for the abysmal 2020 we all had. Now we’re in mid-February and I feel like I’m borderline diabetic. We withheld putting this article out earlier due to how many records were being broken back-to-back.

Here’s what we saw this week in track and field:

1500m Indoor Women’s World Record — and Two More Near Misses

On February 9th, twenty-four-year-old Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia set a new world indoor 1500m record with a time of 3:53:09 at the World Indoor Tour meeting in France. World records are typically beaten by mere fractions of a second. Tsegay decided that wasn’t enough and slashed the record by 2 full seconds on her way to defeating British phenom Laura Muir (who was pulled through to a new British record).

At the same meet, two other world records were nearly bested as well. American Grant Holloway missed the 60m hurdle record by 0.02 seconds with a time of 7.32 seconds, and Ethiopian Getnet Wale was shy of the 3,000m indoor record by 0.31 seconds! Both records have been held since the 90s and by two of the greats.

In the men’s 1500m, perhaps the more dominant of the three Ingebrigtsen brothers, 20-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen, ran the fifth-fastest time ever. His 3:31:80 also nabbed him the European record and put him just 3 seconds off of his personal best (also the European record) in the outdoor variant.

1-Mile High School National Record

We normally don’t spend too much time covering high school track and field, but sometimes an athlete throws down and sets an impressive record and you can’t help yourself.

That’s precisely what Hobbs Kessler of Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan did. He entered into the American Track League meet in Fayetteville, Arkansas on February 7th and came away with the new national indoor high school mile record. His time — 3:57.66! What’s crazier is how little time he had to prepare and just how inexperienced he is at running at large meets and indoor ones at that. Just what can we expect from Kessler in the future?

Only 10 high schoolers before him have ever dipped under 4 minutes for the indoor mile. If you’re unfamiliar with distance running, it took until 1954 for ANY man to run sub 4 minutes in ANY conditions for the mile.

NCAA Indoor 1-Mile Record Broken by Two Oregon Ducks

Sticking with the theme, just a few days ago, teammates Cooper Teare and Cole Hocker ran 3:50.39 and 3:50.55 respectively in the collegiate mile. Nearly a tie, both Oregon Ducks dipped under the previous record by over a second and a half.

Wow, two teammates crushed the collegiate record, Oregon must have some really impressive middle-distance guys this year. What if I told you third-place finisher, Charlie Hunter, ran an Australian record and sixth fastest collegiate time of 3:53.49 — oh and he’s also an Oregon runner. Impressed now?

Oregon has always been known as a distance powerhouse, but this year looks to be stronger than most. Two weeks prior their distance medley relay (DMR) ran the collegiate indoor record as well…Ducks be flying high this year!

Shot Put INSANITY

You may have thought, “We finally saw Ryan Crouser crack the world record in the shot put indoors, there’s nothing left to really pull from shot put the rest of the indoor season unless he throws another one right?” Well you’re wrong — well, I mean you’re right too — but you’re still wrong!

No, Crouser hasn’t thrown anything further than his new world record, but two other athletes have now thrown further than his collegiate best.

Tripp Pipperi of the University of Texas surpassed the former Longhorn alum with a huge sixth round throw of 21.74m (71-4) on February 6th, becoming the second-best NCAA performer of all-time and unseating Crouser’s school record. He beat Crouser’s record by one freakin’ centimeter. Anyone remember the 2019 World Championships…?

Piperi is the only man in collegiate indoor history with two throws in a single series over 21.62m. A big congrats go out to him, but wait…there’s more.

Just a week later, not to be outdone, Arizona State University junior discus thrower, Turner Washington, hit the throw of a lifetime and not only surpassed Piperi, but took the NCAA record at the same time. Again, a sixth-round throw of 21.85m (71-8.25) Turner usurped the number one spot which has been occupied by North Dakota State’s Payton Otterdahl who threw 21.81m (71-06.75) in 2019 and pushed Piperi to third on the all-time list. I’m sure he’s not too upset.

We mentioned he is more of a discus thrower, as his father, Anthony Washington, was a three-time Turner’s Olympic discus thrower. Funny enough, Turner’s coach at ASU is Brian Blutreich, who was a former U.S. discus teammate with Anthony in the ‘92 Olympics.

Three American Records Fall at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix

This is about where I started seeing the records weren’t stopping so I better do the fans a service and put out some news. I thought the excitement might hit a lull, but nay! At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in New York, not one…not two…but three American records were achieved and in stunning fashion.

World Champion Donavan Brazier reacted to the early pace and didn’t look back once. In typical fashion, he took to the front, ran hard, and didn’t give way anyone the opportunity to catch him. He cruised through the line, with an early test run of fitness, besting his own American record in the 800m by 0.01 seconds. If you’re gonna beat it, you might as well chip away at it and take the payout.

Next, Elle Purrier and Emma Coburn were at it in the 2-mile. Coburn was able to stick for quite some time but Purrier could not be held back. When all was said and done, Purrier looked to be sprinting with powerful strides down the homestretch, absolutely demolishing Jenny Simpson’s previous record by 8.07 seconds! That’s good enough for the third-fastest time in the history of the event. Coburn shouldn’t be overlooked, as she also undercut the old American record by two and a half seconds. This combo is fire.

Finally, Bryce Hoppel, the possible kryptonite to Donavan Brazier’s Superman in the 800m, charged down the track on his way to an American record 2:16.27 in the indoor 1000m, and the tenth fastest time ever. The previous record held by David Torrence was broken by 0.49 seconds.

Final Thoughts

I guarantee we missed another story or two in there from the collegians but, wow, if you thought 2020 killed any chance at the excitement in the track world for 2021, you best re-check your insulin levels. It’s really too bad spectators aren’t allowed near capacity to enjoy the lottery of historical events taking place, but it goes to show that those who have big dreams, go big regardless of the environment you place them in.

Comment below on which you thought was the most extreme or exciting record from this week and if you look forward to seeing any records fall this year!