Yared Nuguse

Yared Nuguse (born June 1, 1999) is an American professional middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 meters. He was the 2019 NCAA Division I champion in the event. Nuguse is the North American outdoor record holder over 1500 meters and one mile, and the North American indoor record holder for the 1500 meters, one mile and 3000 meters.

Nuguse's outdoor mile personal best of 3:43.97 places him as the 4th fastest miler in history, behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Noah Ngeny, and Hicham El Guerrouj. Likewise, his indoor mile personal best of 3:47.38 places him as the 2nd fastest indoor miler in history behind only Yomif Kejelcha.

Since June 2022, Nuguse has competed for the On Athletics Club under coach Dathan Ritzenhein.

Early life and background
He was born to Ethiopian parents Alem Nuguse and Mana Berhe. His mother and father are originally from the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, however, Nuguse's father fled the country in the 1980s as a political refugee. He taught math and English prior to being granted asylum in the United States. At first, he settled in Arlington, Virginia, which is where he later met his wife.

Nuguse is the fourth of six children. He has three older siblings and two younger twin siblings. Nuguse showed little interest in sports during his earlier years of high school and instead preferred to dedicate himself to his studies, science workshops, and bowling. Eventually, he took up running upon the recommendation of his physical education (P.E.) teacher Mick Motley, who was so impressed by Nuguse's running time in the one mile that he referred him to the school's track coach, Tim Holman. Nuguse then finally made the switch from being on the school's bowling team to track and field.

Nuguse attended DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was a successful high school runner prior to attending the University of Notre Dame. Initially, he planned on pursuing the necessary degree to attend dental school wanting to eventually become an orthodontist, but graduated in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and is pursuing a master's degree in management at the university.

Collegiate competition


He competed collegiately for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In 2019, he anchored the Fighting Irish to victory in the Distance Medley Relay at the NCAA Division I Indoor T&F Championships before winning the 1500 meters at the NCAA Division I Outdoor T&F Championships just six days past his 20th birthday.

On May 13, 2021, Nuguse set the NCAA 1500 meters record in a time of 3:34.68, which also met the Olympic standard. At the NCAA Division I T&F Championships, he finished second to Cole Hocker in a time of 3:35.60. Nuguse qualified for the 1500 m at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics by finishing third at the U.S. Olympic Trials with his personal best time of 3:34.68, but did not participate in the Games due to a quad injury.

On February 12, 2022, he broke the 18-year-old NCAA indoor 3000 meters record in a time of 7:38.13 at the BU Valentine Invitational. Nuguse capped off his 2022 NCAA indoor season at the 2022 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, where he anchored Notre Dame's Distance Medley Relay team to a second-place finish. He also placed ninth in the 3000 meters. Upon graduation in 2022, he joined the On Athletics Club to compete professionally.

2023
On January 27, at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston, the 23-year-old broke the North American indoor record in the 3000 m with a time of 7:28.24, slicing nearly two seconds off Galen Rupp’s mark set in February 2013. Nuguse's time was also faster than the 7:28.48 outdoor record, which Grant Fisher set in 2022. With a quick 3:56.96 last 1600 m, he moved to ninth on the world indoor all-time list.

On February 11, he ran the second-fastest indoor mile in history with a time of 3:47.38 at the Millrose Games in New York, smashing by more than two seconds Bernard Lagat’s (who was a two-time world outdoor champion) 18-year-old North American indoor record of 3:49.98. Nuguse simultaneously broke also his indoor 1500 m record, which was set in the same race in 2005. He narrowly missed out on Yomif Kejelcha's world indoor mile record of 3:47.01 and eclipsed by more than a second the best mark of famous multiple world record-holder Hicham El Guerrouj. Nuguse covered 200 m segment from 1400 to 1600 m in a very fast 25.94 to beat a quality field and set the second-fastest North American mile ever, indoors or outdoors.

On May 28, Nuguse finished second in the 1500 m at the Rabat Diamond League in a new personal best of 3:33.02, narrowly losing to reigning Olympic champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen. On June 15, Nuguse finished third in the 1500 m at the Bislett Games in Oslo in a new personal best and North American outdoor record of 3:29.02, finishing behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Mohamed Katir. This time places Nuguse at 18th on the all-time list over 1500 meters, and makes him one of three Americans to run under 3:30 (the other two being Bernard Lagat and Sydney Maree).

On July 9, Nuguse won the 1500 m at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. By doing so he qualified for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. On July 23, Nuguse won his first Diamond League race, winning the 1500m at the London Diamond League in a time of 3:30.44. It was the first win by an American man in a Diamond League 1500 since 2011.

At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Nuguse made it to the Men's 1500m Final, which took place on August 23. He finished fifth, in a time of 3:30.25.

On September 16, at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic/Diamond League final, Nuguse broke the American mile record in a time of 3:43.97 in his second-place finish to Jakob Ingebrigtsen. At the time, this was the fourth fastest performance in history.

On December 9, Nuguse, in his first ever road race, won Honolulu's Kalakaua Merrie Mile, in a time of 3:56.58. Finishing second was Vincent Ciattei in 3:56.81, and third place went to Hobbs Kessler in 3:57.12. Nuguse narrowly missed Kessler's world road mile record of 3:56.13.

2024
On January 26, at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic, Nuguse ran a personal best time of 13:02.09 in the men's 5000m Scarlet Heat, hitting the Olympic entry standard of 13:05.00. He came in third place, behind fellow OAC athlete George Mills (12:58.68) and Under Armour Dark Sky Distance's Edwin Kurgat (12:57.52). On February 11, Nuguse defended his Wanamaker Mile title at the 116th Millrose Games with a time of 3:47.83.

On February 16, Nuguse won the men's 3000m at the 2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, in a time of 7:55.76. On March 2, at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Nuguse came in second place to Josh Kerr in the men's 3000m final, in a time of 7:43.59.

On April 27, Nuguse opened his outdoor season at the Penn Relays' Olympic Development Elite Mile. Winning in a time of 3:51.06, Nuguse broke the 50 year old Penn Relays mile record of Tony Waldrop, who ran 3:53.2 in 1974.

In late May, Nuguse came third in the historic 2024 Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic, in a season's best time of 3:46.22, behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:45.60) and Josh Kerr (3:45.34). Given the remarkable depth of the field, which included 2021 Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen, 2023 world champion Kerr, and 2022 world champion Jake Wightman, among others, this race was billed as the "Mile of the Century".

On June 24, at the 2024 Olympic trials, Nuguse took second to Cole Hocker in a time of 3:30.86 to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Prior to this race, Nuguse had not lost to an American in a 1500m or mile final for nearly two years, since the 2022 US Championships, where he placed eleventh as a collegian.

On July 12, Nuguse finished 4th in the Monaco Diamond League 1500 metres, running a season's best of 3:29.13, being outkicked by Brian Komen & Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya in the final 100 metres.

Circuit wins and titles
(1500 metres wins, other events specified in parentheses)
 * Diamond League
 * 2023 (2): London Anniversary Games, Zürich Weltklasse
 * World Athletics Indoor Tour
 * 2023 (2): Millrose Games (Mile), Villa de Madrid Indoor Meeting
 * 2024: Millrose Games (Mile)

National titles

 * USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
 * 1500 m: 2023
 * 3000 m: 2024
 * USA Indoor Track and Field Championships
 * 3000 m: 2024