Chris O'Hare wins Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile
Chris O'Hare has won the prestigious Wanamaker Mile at the NYRR Millrose Games, becoming the first British man since John Whetton in 1965 to claim victory in the race.
Clocking 3:54.14, the 27-year-old led a Scottish one-two on Saturday night as he was followed over the finish line by Josh Kerr, the two-time NCAA champion moving from 53rd to fifth on the UK indoor all-time list with his PB of 3:54.72.
USA's Ben Blankenship was third in 3:54.77 and Britain's Charlie Grice fourth in an indoor PB of 3:56.47.
Ahead of his season opener in New York, O'Hare had told AW how he was “ready to roll” and also looking forward to seeing his wife Meredith and 16-month-old son Ronan after having spent the past month at a training camp in Flagstaff.
Following his victory, O'Hare was joined on the track by Ronan and the Wanamaker Mile trophy.
"It's a prestigious race," he said, "so to get your name on that trophy is pretty special."
Your 2018 NYRR Wanamaker Mile Champion @chrisohare1500 with his fledgling #RisingNYRR pic.twitter.com/TfQeIQjdcc
— NYRR Media Relations (@nyrrnews) February 3, 2018
Kerr had also spoken of his own fine current form in the lead-up to the race and that was demonstrated in his strong run for the runner-up spot.
Two-time Olympic medallist Nick Willis – who had been on the hunt for his first title in six attempts – placed fifth in 3:57.72, one place ahead of Kyle Merber.
In the women's Wanamaker Mile, Colleen Quigley secured success with her time of 4:30.05 putting her narrowly ahead of her fellow American Kate Grace with 4:30.08, as Ireland's Ciara Mageean was a close third in 4:30.99.
There was a world indoor record-breaking 4x800m performance as USA's Chrishuna Williams, Raevyn Rogers, Charlene Lipsey and Ajee' Wilson combined to clock 8:05.89 ahead of a NY All Stars team featuring Kendra Chambers, Lynsey Sharp, Ce'aira Brown and Cecilia Barowski (8:11.45).
Shaunae Miller-Uibo equalled the world indoor 300m best with her time of 35.45, while Emmanuel Korir won the 800m in 1:44.21 to go third on the world all-time indoor list. Behind him, Donavan Brazier went second on the US all-time list with 1:45.35, while GB's Kyle Langford was fourth in a World Indoor Championships qualifying time of 1:46.43.
Shadrack Kipchirchir won the 3000m in 7:45.49, with Britain's Andrew Butchart fifth in 7:47.21, while a photo finish in the women's race saw victory for Aisha Praught-Leer in 8:41.10 from Emma Coburn and Dominique Scott.
Elsewhere, USATF Cross Country Championships titles were won by Emily Infeld and Leonard Korir in Florida.
Results at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Karlsruhe included the second fastest-ever indoor 1500m, with Genzebe Dibaba clocking 3:57.45.
Hagos Gebrhiwet won the 3000m from Yomif Kejelcha, 7:37.91 to 7:38.67.
Sharika Nelvis won the 60m hurdles in 7.80, while Tatjana Pinto won the 60m in 7.10 as GB's Asha Philip was third in 7.12. The men's 60m was won by Su Bingtian in an Asian indoor record of 6.47.
Raphael Holzdeppe cleared 5.88m in front of his home crowd to win the pole vault and beat world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie.
Marcin Lewandowski pipped Erik Sowinski by one hundredth of a second to win the 800m in 1:46.90 as Britain's Andrew Osagie was a close fourth in 1:47.02.
In Ohio, Lucy Bryan moved to fourth on the UK indoor pole vault all-time list with 4.47m to win at the Akron Invitational.
» NYRR Millrose Games results can be found at results.nyrrmillrosegames.org
