Cheruiyot’s world U20 mile record ratified after months of waiting

After months of waiting, World Athletics has finally ratified Reynold Cheruiyot's men's 3:48.06 record set in Eugene on September 16, 2023.

Cheruiyot's record has been made official alongside those set by Ryan Crouser, Mondo Duplantis, and Gudaf Tsegay in different other disciplines.

USA's Crouser’s has had her record set in the shot 23.56m at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix, which is the season’s sixth World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting on May 27, ratified.

Crouser added 19cm to the previous world record of 23.37 cm that he achieved at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene in June 2021, according to World Athletics. 

“I’m really excited because it didn’t feel polished. It felt like I had a ton of power, and I caught a big one," Crouser told World Athletics. 

While Crouser set the records elsewhere, Duplantis, Tsegay, and Cheruiyot achieved theirs at the Diamond League Final in Eugene. 

Cheruiyot's record

Cheruiyot, who is Kenya’s world U20 1500m champion, clocked 3:48.06 to finish fifth in the Bowerman Mile, and that meant he improved the world U20 mile record by more than a second. Ilham Tanui Ozbilen was the holder of the previous record of 3:49.29 that he set in Oslo, Norway, in 2009. 

Ethiopia’s Tsegay set the second senior world record of her career and her first outdoors, improving the world 5000m record with her remarkable 14:00.21 run. Tsegay managed to take almost five seconds off the previous world record of 14:05.20, set by Faith Kipyegon. 

"I was really angry to not bring back two medals from the World Championships, but I knew from our training I had a lot of potential to do something with my fitness. 

Even though the conditions weren’t perfect (in Eugene), we thought we could do it," the Ethiopian superstar said. 

Duplantis broke the world record to win his first senior world title in 2022, setting the seventh world record of his career by clearing 6.23m on his first attempt. 

It is one centimetre higher than the world record height he achieved indoors in Clermont-Ferrand in February. 

"The limit is very high, and I hope that I can continue to jump well and keep jumping higher than I did today. But, for now, I’m not really thinking about anything except enjoying this moment and enjoying what I just did," Duplantis said.