Mile world record missed by 0.01 seconds at Millrose Games

Yomif Kejelcha narrowly missed the mile world record at the Millrose Games

Madeleine Kelly February 10, 2019

Yomif Kejelcha, the 21-year-old Ethiopian middle distance runner, attempted and narrowly missed the mile world record at the Millrose Games on Saturday. He ran 3:48.46, 0.01 seconds off of the record, which is currently 3:48.45 and held by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco.

The final lap of Yomif Kejelcha's 3:48.46 mile, which was just .01s away from a World Record. pic.twitter.com/08tBCYcdfa

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 9, 2019

Kejelcha announced his attempt leading up to the race, and ran a truly stunning mile but was just a hair off of the world record time. The runner drifted into lane two in the final stretch, which could have cost him that 0.01 of a second. He bested the rest of the field by a shocking five seconds. Second place went to Edward Cheserek in 3:53.29 and third place to Clayton Murphy in 3:53.30.

So close! Yomif Kejelcha ?? wins the #NYRRMillroseGames NYRR Men's Wanamaker Mile in 3:48.46, one HUNDREDTH of a second off the world record! pic.twitter.com/AzaCzBGdOF

— New York Road Runners (@nyrr) February 9, 2019

In the women’s race, Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany took the win in a world leading time of 4:19.98. Second place went to Colleen Quigley of 4:22.86 in a personal best, and third place went to her Bowerman teammate Kate Grace in 4:24.27.

Making a break at the halfway point, #KonstanzeKlosterhalfen just became the 2019 Women's Wanamaker Mile Champion! #NYRRMillroseGames pic.twitter.com/V1UQIoQKZD

— New York Road Runners (@nyrr) February 9, 2019

In the lead-up to the race, Kejelcha’s coach, Alberto Salazar, said that if New York didn’t go to plan, Kejelcha would attempt the record again in Boston on March 1.

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