Top Athletes & Storylines To Follow At The 2025 Millrose Games

By Paul Hof-Mahoney and David Melly

The 117th Millrose Games are set for Saturday afternoon. When the professional races get underway at The Armory at 4 p.m., hold onto your hats for two straight hours of scintillating action. You can follow along with live results and watch on NBC Sports or Peacock (subscription required), and we’ll have live updates on all the CITIUS MAG social channels.

To get you prepped, here’s one storyline to keep an eye from each race:

Women’s pole vault: A tale of two records

Before we get to the pro races, there’ll be a women’s pole vault competition serving as the only professional field event of the meet. However, what the field events lack in quantity, they’ll more than make up for in quality as Katie Moon and Chloe Timberg chase history. On the CITIUS MAG Podcast in December, Moon made it clear that an ideal Millrose performance would see her join the esteemed 5-meter club and potentially attack Jenn Suhr’s unofficial indoor world record of 5.02m. After a 5.80m opener last week at Kansas State, her best ever, she seems to be in a good spot to threaten Sandi Morris’s meet record of 4.91m at the very least.

Timberg will be returning to The Armory’s runway for a second consecutive week, this time with a shiny new PB of 4.72m on her resume. That second-attempt clearance from Friday secured Timberg a place on The Bowerman watchlist and situates her only 3cm off Demi Payne’s collegiate record of 4.75m. If she’s planning on going record-hunting this weekend, vaulting alongside an Olympic and two-time World champ chasing her own history should be pretty good motivation.

Women’s 60mH: A typically fast field returns to a world record site

The four fastest women in the world this year are racing each other over the short hurdles on Saturday. Three of them raced last week in Boston, where Olympic champ Masai Russell won a tight race against Grace Stark and Devynne Charlton. Ackera Nugent, who’s “only” tied for ninth on the world list this year, finished a somewhat distant 4th last week and will be back looking for blood.

That quartet from Boston will have the added challenge of going up against world leader Denisha Cartwright, who ran 7.78 in Iowa two weeks ago. Oh, and it’s worth mentioning the race will be on the same straightaway where Charlton broke the world record for the first time last year. As is typical with the women’s sprint hurdles, all the pieces are there to have a great race. But with a field like this in an environment like The Armory, it might just elevate great to historic.

Men’s 60mH: Who capitalizes in Holloway’s absence?

Whenever the greatest 60m hurdler to ever walk the face of the earth skips out on a major meet, it allows the men in the field something they never have when Grant Holloway is in the blocks: hope. Last year, it was Dylan Beard who took advantage of the open spot at the top and secured a breakthrough win in 7.44. He’s back this year to defend his title against an all-American field. He appears to be in the form to do just that, having picked up an international win in Astana two weeks ago and running a PB of 7.42 last Friday in Clemson. But if he wants to turn his Millrose success into a streak, he’ll have to fend off Freddie Crittenden and Cordell Tinch, who finished 2-3 to Holloway in Boston last week with a pair of solid runs, and Cameron Murray, who represented the U.S. in Glasgow last March.

Women’s 60m: The rise of Jacious Sears

Last spring, Jacious Sears looked on pace to punch a ticket to Paris after clocking 10.77 at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, the second-fastest time ever by a collegian. An injury she picked up at SEC Outdoors unfortunately cut her promising season short, but her return to the track last month has proved that she’s once again a force to be reckoned with. All five finalists from the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, which Sears won in 7.11, made the trip down to New York for this week’s race, where they’ll be joined by the joint second-fastest woman ever, Aleia Hobbs. Hobbs hasn’t raced since July, but she’s historically shown the ability to open her 60m seasons in great form and has won at Millrose twice. If Sears can stay on top even with Hobbs in the mix this time around, it will make an emphatic statement.

Men’s 60m: Former champs fighting to stay afloat

Last week’s ventures down the straightaway in Boston did not go according to plan for Marcell Jacobs and Trayvon Bromell. Both former World Indoor champions, they found themselves bringing up the rear of the pack in clockings of 6.63 and 6.64, respectively. It was an eyebrow-raising finish for Jacobs, who had a resurgent 2024 where he finished 5th in the Olympic final and took home the European title, but it should be kept in mind that was his first 60m race in nearly two years.

Bromell, on the other hand, has been battling injuries for the last two seasons, as he hasn’t dipped under the 10-second barrier outdoors since late 2022. With all the question marks surrounding who would be willing to make the trip to Nanjing for World Indoors next month, it’s hard to say whether either of these men would be building momentum towards adding another title to their trophy case with a strong showing this weekend. One thing certain, however, is that a fast clocking would be a necessary confidence boost to them and their fans.

Men’s 3000m: Strength vs. Speed

At the 2024 edition of Millrose, this race was about 218m longer and saw Josh Kerr (more on him later) set a world best in the indoor two mile. Finishing just behind Kerr were Grant Fisher and Cole Hocker, and they’re back to contest the slightly-shorter 3000m with a whole lot more hardware. Both men have elevated their game since their 8:03.62 (Fisher) and 8:05.70 (Hocker) finishes last year, with Fisher taking home two bronzes from Paris and Hocker adding an Olympic gold to his mantle.

While Fisher’s advantage in this matchup is strength and Hocker’s is speed, the 3000m serves as a solid happy medium between the two that should produce a historically fast battle. Also in the field and unwise to overlook are Adam Fogg and Jimmy Gressier, who are coming off impressive runs of 3:49.85 for the mile and 13:00.54 over 5000m at BU last week, as well as Hocker’s training partner Cooper Teare, who never seems to be far behind when Hocker is around (and often is a few strides ahead in longer races).

Women’s 800m: Shafiqua gets a target on her back

There’s not a lot of data points to draw conclusions from in this field yet this year, but going off demonstrated fitness in 2025, current world leader Shafiqua Maloney, last year’s Olympic fourth placer, is the one to beat. She’s the only woman to dip under the 2 minute barrier so far this year, and has picked up three wins in four races (two miles, an 800m, and a 600m), all in two weekends on her home-base track in Fayetteville.

But although she hasn’t run as fast, newly-minted Hoka signee Nia Akins is two-for-two in 2025, with a pair of 800m wins in New York and Philadelphia. And two big unknowns are 1:55 runner Natoya Goule-Toppin in her season opener and Sage Hurta-Klecker, who got buried a little bit at last weekend’s NB Indoor Grand Prix mile but is typically much more competitive in the 800m.

Men’s 600m: Chasing Brazier

This event has arguably the most clear goal of the whole weekend, as Brandon Miller has been adamant that he’s not satisfied with No. 2 all-time and will be chasing after Donavan Brazier’s world best of 1:13.77 from 2019. Nearly one year ago to the day from Saturday, Miller completed three laps of the track in Albuquerque in 1:14.03. A strong 800m opener of 1:45.60 on that same track two weeks ago hints that the Brooks Beasts star is ready to rip on Saturday. However, the record isn’t all Miller has to worry about this time around, because there’s an impressive field that’ll be hoping to beat him to it.

Tokyo Olympian Isaiah Jewett will be racing for the first time since his transition to train with Marco Arop under coach Chris Woods. Miller hasn’t beaten Jewett since 2021, and you can be sure Jewett will be looking to keep that streak alive and make a statement after a frustrating 2024. You also have Quincy Wilson in the mix. His primary focus may be the high school national record of 1:15.58, held by Will Sumner (who’s also in this race!), but last week in Boston he checked off the high school record box and took a convincing win against a pro 400m field. It would be a taller task in this race, as Wilson’s current PB sits over three seconds behind Miller’s, but at this point we’re not going to be dumb enough to say Quincy Wilson is ever out of contention before the gun goes off.

Women’s 3000m: Many different journeys intersect in one race

Everyone in this one seems to be on different quests in their running careers, so it will be interesting to see who shakes out and where when they come head-to-head. 31-year-old Melissa Courtney-Bryant is riding high off a 8:28.69 win lifetime best last weekend in Boston and surely wants to replicate the same feat.

Grand Slam Track signees Nozomi Tanaka and Tsigie Gebreselama are spinning the wheels Stateside to get a taste of the U.S. circuit. Fellow GST runner and Australian record holder Jessica Hull wants a qualifier for World Indoors after scratching from NBIGP. Katelyn Tuohy is back on her signature track continuing her comeback after an injury-plagued start to her pro career. And the Diljeet Taylor-coached trio of Whittni Morgan, Ella Donaghu, and Courtney Wayment will be trying to bring the good vibes of last weekend at BU down to the Armory. Who comes out on top is anyone’s guess.

Women’s 400m: Track Queen Lex aims for the crown

Alexis Holmes didn’t earn the “track queen” moniker by running slow, and although she’s fairly lightly-raced so far in 2025 with only a 300m, a 4x400m, and a 1000m(?!) on her card so far, she’s gotta be the favorite coming off a banner year that delivered World Indoor bronze and a 49.77 PB. It’ll be fun and interesting to see how she stacks up against BYU’s Meghan Hunter, currently the NCAA leader in the 800m without much of a 400m resume to speak of. With only five entrants and Holmes the only competitor with a sub-51 indoor PB, this one should be something of a foregone conclusion.

Men’s 800m: Can Hoey keep the wins coming?

Josh Hoey has been running as a man possessed since finishing 4th at the Olympic Trials last summer. Since the Trials semifinals on June 28th, Hoey has run six of his 10 fastest 800m times ever, as well as PBs in the mile, 1500m, and an American record in the 1000m. That 1500m PB came in a win over Grant Fisher in Boston last weekend, and this week he’ll have his sights set on taking down another American record holder: Bryce Hoppel. Hoppel is a total beast indoors, the reigning World Indoor champion over 800m, and ran 1:41.67 for a 4th place finish in the Olympic final last year. If Hoey can manage to beat Hoppel on Saturday, it would be the most significant moment in his string of phenomenal showings.

Two other notable athletes to keep an eye on in the field are Shane Cohen and Cooper Lutkenhaus. Cohen captured the nation’s hearts with his daring sit-and-kick style he used to win the NCAA Outdoor title in June, and the former Virginia Cavalier will be making his pro debut after signing with Nike in October. Lutkenhaus is a high school sophomore from Justin, Texas, who shattered the national freshman 800m record last year and already took down the national sophomore record in the indoor 800m this year with his 1:50.15 clocking from Lubbock last month. The national record regardless of class is coincidentally held by Hoey at 1:47.67, so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on if this pro field can elevate Lutkenhaus to history once again.

Women’s Wanamaker Mile: NCAA and high school records under threat in stacked pro field

This field is absolutely loaded. Elise Cranny, Heather MacLean, Sinclaire Johnson, and Nikki Hiltz provide a nice assortment of some of the fastest American milers in history, while Susan Ejore-Sanders enters with the fastest PB and Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Bell will be looking to demolish her 4:33.66 PB from 2022. This race up at the front will be fascinating, but there will be two record chases towards the middle of the pack that warrant attention.

Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen shaved six seconds off her PB two weeks on this very track, finishing runner-up at the Dr. Sander Scorcher in 4:25.89. This catapulted Nielsen up to the third-fastest miler in NCAA history (on a 200m track), and in a field like this one, she has a solid chance to take down Katelyn Tuohy’s NCAA record of 4:24.26. Taking a step down to the high school ranks, Sadie Engelhardt is back for her second pro mile in as many weeks with Mary Cain’s 4:28.25 national record on the mind. Engelhardt was actually ahead of Cain’s split through 1500m in Boston, but simply couldn’t maintain that pace over the last 109m and change. A Nikki Hiltz kick can be lethal in almost any circumstances, but Cranny has entered the season with a head full of steam so it may come down to a two-athlete battle for the win.

Men’s Wanamaker Mile: They have to get the world record this time… right?

While Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse can jaw off all they want about how they’re not thinking about the record, the memory of his world-best two-mile on this track last year can’t have faded too badly from his memory. And Olympic bronze medalist Yared Nuguse, the second-fastest man ever indoors, and guys like Neil Gourley, Hobbs Kessler, Robert Farken, and Cameron Myers, all of whom claim PBs of 3:50.15 or faster, this is the kind of field you assemble to take down Yomif Kejelcha’s 3:47.01 record from 2019.

Kerr, his two Olympic medals, and his big mouth have to have the biggest target on his back, but Nuguse is the reigning Wanamaker champ and has a faster PB indoors. Neither has raced since September 2024, so the only way we’ll know for sure who’s coming in fit and ready to rumble is to line them up next to each other and shoot off the gun. It’s also nice to see UVA’s Gary Martin tucked into this field as the sole collegian entered, and while he’s unlikely to win, if he can stick onto what’s sure to be a red-hot early pace he could surely take a chunk off his 3:54.94 PB and maybe even crack the NCAA top-10 all-time (which now, amazingly, requires a 3:52.81 performance or better).

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