U.S.’s Hobbs Kessler smashes road mile world record by five seconds

In a lightning-fast finish to an extremely close race, American runner Hobbs Kessler sprinted to a win in 3:56.13, taking five seconds off the world mile record Sunday morning at the first-ever World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia. Great Britain’s Callum Elson ran to silver in a PB of 3:56.41, with former world record holder American Sam Prakel, rounding out the podium for bronze in 3:56.43.

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Kenya’s world U20 mile record-holder Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot led the race from the start. The rest of the field eventually caught the teenager, and nearing the finish 20-year-old Kessler positioned himself at the front of the lead pack with Prakel close behind. Both Elson and Prakel attempted to charge along with Kessler, but neither could keep up with the former Hobbs Kessler high school phenom.

“It’s been a really up and down year and I luckily got in really good shape at the end of the season,” Kessler told media post-race.”The road mile is a very American event and we’re quite experienced in them. I’m very proud of myself.” Kessler said there was a big headwind in the final 800 metres of the race, and he drafted behind the other runners as long as he could. “I just bought a house two weeks ago so now I have some money for furniture, I guess,” the runner said.

The 20-year-old won USD $10,000 for the win and an additional $50,000 for doing it under world record time. The road mile became an official world record discipline earlier this year after a decision by the World Athletics Council.

No one saw this coming 😳

Watch as @hobbs_kessler grabs the gold and world record in the men's road mile in Riga 😎#WorldRunningChamps pic.twitter.com/78Zt1USmGS

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 1, 2023

Kessler first made headlines at 17, when he broke the U.S. high school indoor mile record in 3:57.66. He followed that performance by bettering the national U20 1,500m record (his 3:34.36 in late May of 2021, besting Jim Ryun‘s 55-year-old mark of 3:36.1). Kessler turned pro after that season, signing with Adidas.

Canada’s Kieran Lumb was level with Kessler until the final sprint, finishing fifth in a PB of 3:56.98. Vancouver’s Lumb has been building momentum this fall,  breaking the Canadian 3,000-metre record twice in four days in September, lowering his 3,000-metre personal best by seven seconds. This past August, he made his world championship debut for Team Canada in Budapest.

On Sept. 6 in Rovereto, Italy, Lumb earned his first Canadian record, placing third in the men’s 3,000m in 7:38.92, breaking Moh Ahmed’s record of 7:40.49. In his final track event of the season four days later, Lumb doubled down, breaking his record by two seconds at the Hanžeković Memorial (Continental Tour Gold meet) in Zagreb, Croatia, in 7:36.46.