Inside The Armory: A Look at the 2024 Millrose Games
The Millrose Games, a cornerstone of indoor athletics since 1908, returned last Sunday at the iconic Fort Washington Armory in New York City. The meet produced two world records, a host of world leading times, and served as an exciting step along the road to the World Athletics Indoor Championships in two weeks. Continue on to read about some of the most impressive and interesting performances of the day.
Women’s 60m Hurdles
Devynne Charlton set an electrifying tone for the evening when she opened the elite program with a world record in the women’s 60m hurdles. The Bahamian athlete clocked 7.67s to eclipse the 16-year-old record by 0.01s and finish ahead of Danielle Williams in second and Tia Jones in third, both of whom clocked 7.79s.
“At the World Championships, when I finished in fourth place, just outside of a medal, it was a really disappointing feeling and one of the first things I said to my coach when I went back to the warm-up area was now I have to break the world record indoors.”
Charlton won a silver medal at last year's World Athletics Indoor Championships but is confident she will be standing atop the podium in Glasgow. The 28-year-old has been in top form since her season opener last month, where she clocked 7.88s in Kentucky. A week later, she ran a national record of 7.75s.
“After my second meet, when I ran 7.75, I went to my coach and said that was a sloppy race, and so I knew once we went back and started working on it, this race would show up,” explained the newly crowned world record holder in New York.
“I knew it was in me. I knew the type of numbers I’ve been putting up in practice, but it was all about just executing it.”
Charlton is looking to finish her indoor season with a world title in Scotland before she, like so many, turns her attention to the Olympics.
Women’s 60m
In what is only her second professional season, Julien Alfred took a convincing win over 60m in Sunday's competition. The St Lucian sprinter ran a world leading 6.99s, finishing well clear of runner-up Shashalee Forbes, who crossed the line in 7.14s.
While Alfred will be competing at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in two weeks, her focus is already beginning to shift to the outdoor season. It is here that she will be aiming to improve upon her fourth-place finish in the 200m from the World Athletics Championships last year.
“I definitely want to medal in Paris,” explained Alfred when asked about her intentions for the summer.
“In the 100m or the 200m, either or. I’ll be happy just to get a medal for my country because St Lucia has never won a medal at the Olympics.”
Counting her performance in New York, Alfred now holds the second-highest number of sub-7s 60m performances in history, behind only world record holder Irina Privalova.
Women’s Two-Mile
Crossing the line in second, Laura Muir knew she had won. The British athlete and Olympic medallist was tucked in behind American Alicia Monson from the start, with Ethiopian duo Melknat Wudu and Medina Eisa for company. The quartet was driven by Monson for most of the race, who looked uncomfortable from early on and offered no reaction when Muir blasted past her on the penultimate lap with two Ethiopians in tow. Muir pushed on at the bell, and three became two down the back straight of the final lap as Muir and Eisa broke away from Wudu. To the surprise of the commentary box, the Briton glanced over her shoulder and eased up as the finishing tape stretched out in front of her, making little effort to stop Eisa moving past her in the closing stages.
After the race, Muir admitted that she knew Eisa would be disqualified for cutting in early at the start.
“I could see she was a bit confused at the start, so I tried to show her,” Muir explained, but for whatever reason, her Ethiopian counterpart had cut across the inside lanes at the gun, ultimately gaining an unfair advantage and running less than two miles.
Indeed, Muir was awarded the victory and confirmed her spot at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow for March. She also improved upon the British record by almost 26 seconds. Behind her, Wudu was promoted to second place, and Monson clinched the bronze in a new American record of 9:09.70.
Laura Muir leads Medina Eisa and Melknat Wudu over the closing stages of the women’s two-mile
(Photo credit: Armory Track/John Nepolitan)
Men’s 60m
Christian Coleman won the men’s 60m at the Millrose Games for the third consecutive year, blazing to victory in 6.51s. However, there is something of an asterisk next to his victory: his time is 0.07s slower than what Noah Lyles ran earlier in the week in Boston. Noah Lyles is of course the reigning 100m and 200m world champion, and has been very open about how he views his start as his biggest weakness. Over the past two years, Lyles has worked at trying to improve his speed out of the blocks, so when he opened his season with a 6.44s clocking - lowering his personal best by 0.1s and setting a world leading time in the process - it was his way of announcing that his hard work had paid off. Coleman, one of Lyles’ foremost rivals, has consistently had the quickest start on the planet: indeed, his explosion off the line has carried him to global medals as well as the 60m world record. But if Lyles can lower his personal best in the 60m by such a margin and run faster than Coleman in the same week, he may be on his way to his first undefeated professional season - a feat he almost achieved last year.
That’s not to take away from what Coleman achieved in Sunday’s race. He ran a very respectable time and beat a world-class field to claim his third Millrose Games 60m title in as many years. Ultimately, we will have to wait until this weekend, when the pair face off at the USATF Indoor Championships, to see who is in better form.
Coleman had little to say on his feelings about the upcoming clash. In the end, his quiet smile as he walked away may have been more telling than any words he could have offered.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said, before heading off to celebrate his victory.
Men’s Two-Mile
In 2023, Jakob Ingebrigtsen was invincible – until he wasn't. When Josh Kerr stormed to victory in the world 1500m final, it immediately ignited a rivalry that the two men have made no effort to hide from the public. In the latest development on the road to Paris (where the pair will once again meet on the global stage), Kerr has set a new world best time for the indoor two-mile, clocking 8:00.76 to break Mo Farah's record by almost three seconds (World Athletics does not recognise the two-mile as an official event, and thus historical times are referred to as world bests rather than world records).
Kerr announced his intention to break the two-mile world best back in November, which naturally brought a lot of excitement to this race. The field immediately strung out at the start, with Kerr positioned behind American athlete, Grant Fisher, who in turn was running behind the pacemakers. After the last pacemaker stepped off the track around halfway, Kerr and Fisher opened a healthy gap over the rest of the field, even as the pace started to fall adrift of the world best time.
While Kerr kept pressuring his American counterpart, it wasn’t until the penultimate lap that he finally moved into the lead. Easing away from Fisher, the Briton ran a huge negative split as he closed the final mile in 3:57, crossing the line just outside eight minutes and becoming the fastest indoor two-miler in history.
On account of the quick early pace, five national records fell in a race represented by only seven countries. Perhaps the most notable of those was Fisher’s silver medal performance, where he crossed the line in 8:03.62 to improve upon the American record by almost four seconds.
While Kerr’s race was certainly impressive, he is still six seconds slower than Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s world best time of 7:54.10, which he ran last year in June (Ingebrigtsen holds the overall world best time for the two-mile, while Kerr’s world best refers only to the indoor two-mile event. To date, Ingebrigtsen has not run the two-mile indoors). Nevertheless, Kerr’s performance puts him ahead of some of the all-time greats and is a very impressive season opener.
Josh Kerr celebrates running the fastest indoor two-mile in history
(Photo credit: Armory Track/John Nepolitan)
Men’s Mile
Yared Nuguse has once again proven himself to be one of the best middle-distance runners on the planet. Cruising away from a stacked field, the American ran the third-fastest indoor mile in history, finishing just 0.82s outside the world record. Nuguse has now set two of the three fastest indoor mile times ever, and the world record could certainly be somewhere along his career path.
His 20-year-old compatriot Hobbs Kessler finished in second, while George Mills of Great Britain rounded out the podium in his first indoor mile. Adam Fogg, also of Great Britain, had a breakthrough performance, fighting across no-man’s land in the middle of the race and running the first sub-3:50 mile of his career to finish fourth. Between Kerr’s world best, Muir’s win in the women’s two-mile, and a third and fourth in the men’s mile, Britain’s middle-distance running squad had an impressive showing and continued to establish themselves as a genuine international force.
Yared Nuguse wins the Wanamaker Mile at the 2024 Millrose Games
(Photo credit: Armory Track/John Nepolitan)
The sixth stop along the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold Series saw many athletes punch their tickets for the World Athletics Indoor Championships to be held on the first weekend of March. Those with strong showings in New York will be looking to pick up the first global medals of the year in Glasgow, before turning their attention to the ever-important outdoor season ahead of the Paris Olympics.
You can access all results from the 2024 Millrose Games here.