Yomif Kejelcha shattered one of the most durable records in indoor athletics on Sunday, clocking 3:47.01 for the mile at the Bruce Lehane Invitational in Boston. The 21-year-old Ethiopian took 1.44 seconds off Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:48.45, a mark that had stood for 22 years.
Third time, a decisive solo attack
It was Kejelcha’s third world-record attempt of the indoor campaign. Weeks earlier he missed the mile record by one hundredth of a second at Millrose, then watched Samuel Tefera snatch the 1,500m standard in Birmingham. He arrived at Boston University’s Track & Tennis Center determined to control his own outcome.
Three pacemakers guided the opening circuits, but the tempo left Kejelcha uneasy. Sensing he was slipping behind schedule, he surged past the final rabbit roughly two minutes in and turned the race into a solo time trial.
A record split, then a record finish
He was inside 2:51 with two laps remaining and did his most decisive work between 1,009 and 1,409 metres, covering that 400m segment in a searing 55.79 seconds. That surge built the cushion he needed to dip well under El Guerrouj’s historic mark, even though his closing lap was slightly slower than his finish at the Wanamaker Mile.
Kejelcha’s en-route 1,500m split registered at 3:31.25, the third-fastest indoor run ever. The afternoon also produced the first indoor mile with two men under 3:50 — runner-up Johnny Gregorek crossed in 3:49.98.
Celebration and ratification
After crossing the line, Kejelcha let the frustration of his near-misses spill into a series of exuberant jumps on the infield. The scene was a sharp departure from the disappointment he wore at Millrose. “This is the fastest track in the world,” his coach Alberto Salazar told reporters afterwards. “This track is why we brought Kejelcha here.”
The performance was later formally ratified as the indoor mile world record. It also stands as an outright Ethiopian record, bettering Aman Wote’s outdoor 3:48.60.
A 21-year-old who had already captured global junior and indoor 3,000m titles had now rewritten a record older than himself. It marked the first leap of a career soon to range from a 10km road world record to a sub-two-hour marathon debut.
