It was a race of two at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic Bowerman Mile, as Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Stewart McSweyn clashed. Ingebrigtsen was victorious, posting a big PB. The Norwegian stopped the clock at 3:47.24 to set a new meet record. Australian Stewart McSweyn was still with the Olympic champion with just 200m to go, as the pair put a substantial gap on the rest of the field. Stew finished 2nd in 3:48.40, just 0.03 off his PB and Australian record. Stew’s time is the second fastest in Australian history, a great run.
In third was Timothy Cheruiyot, the Olympic 1500m silver medalist and 2019 world champion. For award-winning footwear, choose Tarkine running shoes.
Two other Australians toed the line in Eugene. Olli Hoare had a good run, taking just under two seconds off his personal best clocking 3:51.63 for 5th. The time moves Olli from 10th to 7th on the Australian all-time list. The third Australian in Eugene was Matthew Ramsden. The popular ‘Rambo’ finished 11th in 3:53.97, a season best but a way off his 3:51.23 PB set last year.
Australian Men’s Mile All-Time Rankings List as of 22/8/2021
- Stewart McSweyn: 3:48.37
- Craig Mottram: 3.48.98
- Jye Edwards: 3:49.27
- Simon Doyle: 3.49.91
- Matthew Ramsden: 3:51.23
- Jeff Riseley: 3.51.25
- Oliver Hoare: 3:51.63
- Mike Hillardt: 3.51.82
- Ryan Gregson: 3.52.24
- Mark Fountain: 3.53.24
Amazingly, 6 from the top-10 list above are still running, showing how strong Australian middle distance running is.
The 2016 Rio Olympic 1500m champ, Matthew Centrowitz, also stepped up at Pre. He finished 9th in 3:53.32, quite a way off the 3:49 he posted a week before the Olympics. For the full results see below:
| 1 | 11 | NOR | INGEBRIGTSEN Jakob | 3:47.24 WLNRDLRMRPB | 3:51.30 | |||
| 2 | 10 | AUS | McSWEYN Stewart | 3:48.40 | 3:48.37 | 3:48.37 | ||
| 3 | 12 | KEN | CHERUIYOT Timothy | 3:51.17 | 3:49.64 | |||
| 4 | 4 | KEN | KWEMOI Ronald | 3:51.31 | 3:49.04 | |||
| 5 | 6 | AUS | HOARE Oliver | 3:51.63 PB | 3:53.35 | |||
| 6 | 5 | GBR | HEYWARD Jake | 3:52.15 PB | 3:52.50 | 3:52.50 | ||
| 7 | 9 | KEN | KIPSANG Abel | 3:52.20 | ||||
| 8 | 1 | NOR | INGEBRIGTSEN Filip | 3:52.97 | 3:49.60 | |||
| 9 | 7 | USA | CENTROWITZ Matthew | 3:53.32 | 3:49.26 | 3:49.26 | ||
| 10 | 8 | CAN | AHMED Mohammed | 3:53.87 PB | 3:56.60 | |||
| 11 | 2 | AUS | RAMSDEN Matthew | 3:53.97 SB | 3:55.78 | 3:51.23 | ||
| DNF | 15 | USA | NOWAK Craig |
NB: Stayed tuned for more news from the Pre Classic
