2024 Millrose Games Top 5 Takeaways: World Records, National Records + More

By David Melly

Millrose Magic delivers once again. We’re 116 editions in, and still the most prestigious indoor track meet in the United States never seems to miss.

With all due respect to the high-quality collegiate meets around the country last weekend and the pro-circuit World Indoor Tour ramping up its season, there’s nothing quite like a tight, two-hour TV broadcast of high-quality track and field straight out of the heart of New York City. Every competition featured top-tier international talent, many of the sport’s biggest stars raced head-to-head, and (a few ill-timed commercials in the distance races notwithstanding) the TV window was tightly scheduled and well-presented. When the dust settled on the Armory track, there were an astonishing 18 national records – including two world indoor bests – broken in one meet.

You can find full results here.

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Two World Records Fall In Shortest and Longest Events

Headed into the weekend, there was a lot of pre-meet hype about the possibility of world records in the men’s distance races, but the first record of the afternoon was short, fast, and kicked off the TV window with a bang.

It seems like Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas has been building to a big breakthrough for years now, and it’s entirely possible that we look back on this weekend’s race as the start of a huge year. The 28-year-old twice finished runner-up at NCAAs at Purdue University back in 2017-2018, and as a pro she finished 6th in Tokyo, 4th in Budapest, and snagged a silver medal at the most recent World Indoor Champs. But her 60m hurdles PB headed into this year was only 7.81 and even after lowering her best to a national-record 7.75 in January, she only finished 3rd at last weekend’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix against a similar field.

So it was a little bit of a pleasant surprise to see her absolutely nail her hurdle pattern from start to finish and leave her competitors in the dust to a huge new PB of 7.67, lowering the world record previously held by Susanna Kallur of Sweden by 1/100th of a second. Her performance not only broke the 16-year-old record; it was the first sub-7.70 the world has seen since Kallur’s 2008 mark, which has to make her the favorite headed into the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in three weeks.

Josh Kerr’s 8:00.67 world record in the men’s 2 mile was a little easier to see coming – particularly because he’s been telling us it was on his radar for months now. Perhaps the most surprising part of his race wasn’t his taking three seconds off countryman Mo Farah’s national and world indoor record; it was the spirited fight that American Grant Fisher put up until the final 300 meters. Pre-race, it seemed likely that Kerr would be clipping the rabbit’s heels and chasing the record solo, and it’s clear that Fisher doing much of the late-race leading helped keep the pace honest enough to keep the 8:03 target in sight.

With mile splits of 4:03-3:57, Kerr showed the kind of strength and composure needed to once again put a little fear into World 5000m champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen as the two gear up for an Olympic-sized rematch over 1500 meters. And it was nice to see Fisher, who left his longtime professional home at Bowerman Track Club late last year and is back training with his high school coach, rewarded for his efforts with an American record of 8:03.62.

Hull vs. St. Pierre Rematch Lives Up To Hype

Headed into the women’s Wanamaker Mile, fans and pundits alike had two questions on their mind: Would Elle St. Pierre turn the tables on Australian rival Jessica Hull? And if so, how would she do it? St. Pierre is typically unafraid to take on the mantle of leading races, grinding her competition into submission from the front, but that strategy backfired last weekend at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, as Hull was able to hang onto the pace then jet past St. Pierre on the homestretch to claim the win and a shiny new PB. Fast-forward to Sunday. Early on, the field let a little gap form behind the pacer, and when Hull moved to close the distance, St. Pierre marked her step-by-step and it was clear she was determined to flip the script this time.

St. Pierre’s tactics ended up working brilliantly. Hull kept the pace honest once the pacer dropped off, and as soon as the final-lap bell rang, St. Pierre took off like a rocket, running roughly 29.4 seconds for her final lap and claiming both a decisive win and a new personal best of 4:16.41. As St. Pierre was already the American record holder indoors, she also gets to pick up another bonus check for lowering the mark on the same track, at the same race, four years and one baby later. The evolving rivalry between Hull, who splits training time between the U.S. and Australia, and St. Pierre makes for a fantastic narrative this indoor season, and it works out great for their competition too: the quick pace up front meant that 9 of the 11 finishers in the race ran personal bests, including Harvard’s Maia Ramsden, who ran the NCAA #2 all-time mile in 4:24.83.

U.S. Men’s Middle-Distance Is More Crowded Than Ever

With 7 national champions scattered across the men’s 800m, mile, and 2 mile, there was no lack of American talent on display at Millrose this year. With Fisher and Cole Hocker both running faster than Galen Rupp’s American record in the indoor 2 mile and Bryce Hoppel winning a tactical battle in the men’s 800m, it’s clear that many members of Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics will still be in the mix to make another team this year.

And while Yared Nuguse showed he’s still the top dog in the men’s Wanamaker mile, defending his title in similarly-fast fashion and becoming the first man in history to break 3:48 in the mile twice indoors, the biggest headline might’ve been the man who finished right behind him: 20-year-old Hobbs Kessler, who vaulted himself into U.S. #2 all-time with a 3:48.66 runner-up finish representing an 8.5-second PB (not counting 1500m conversions or road miles). Kessler may have yet to make a World or Olympic team, but given that he’s now ahead of names like Bernard Lagat and Matthew Centrowitz on the U.S. indoor list, the youngster’s decision to forego NCAA eligibility and turn pro in 2021 already seems like a smart move.

What’s most exciting about this weekend’s results, however, is that – with the possible exception of Nuguse in the mile – there’s no clear pecking order among the biggest names in U.S. middle-distance right now, making each race an exciting mystery. Last year, it seemed like Joe Klecker and Woody Kincaid were the clear 1-2 in the 5000m, but both men have been handily beaten by fellow Americans this winter. And while it’s great to see Fisher back healthy and running fast after an injury-plagued 2023, Klecker and Kincaid have both beaten the American record holder head-to-head in recent memory.

Similarly, Cooper Teare looked supremely unbothered winning the U.S. XC title in January, but he only finished 8th in the Wanamaker Mile, whereas his training partner Cole Hocker, who only finished 12th on the grass, was 3rd in the 2 mile running a second half split of 4:00.94. The unpredictability of elite performance is great for the fans and great for the sport, and it will only help build even more hype leading into the track Olympic Trials.

Alicia Monson Continues Assault On The Record Books

After her phenomenal 2023 season, Alicia Monson started out the year quieter than before, forced to reduce training after coming down with COVID in January and limiting her racing work to a 5000m rabbit job at BU. But if there were any doubts about whether Monson would be ready to rock and roll in Millrose, they were quickly shelved as the Colorado-based Wisconsinite picked up her fourth national record, this time with a 9:09.70 third-place finish in the 2 mile.

The women’s 2 mile got off to a weird start, as Ethiopian Medina Eisa misinterpreted the outer-lane stagger and immediately cut in, earning herself a quick DQ even though she crossed the finish line first. Monson ended up acting as a de facto pacemaker in the second half, particularly for Scot Laura Muir who was in the hunt for a safe 3000m qualifier after her result from December was ruled ineligible due to World Athletics technicalities. Muir ended up having no problem splitting under 8:37 and gave Eisa a strong battle to the line, winning the race (following Eisa’s removal from the results) in 9:04.84. Monson wasn’t quite able to hang with Muir, Eisa, and Melknat Wudu in the final kick, but she still finished well clear of her American competition, with 1500m specialist Nikki Hiltz finishing 4th in 9:15.80.

Stage Set For Next Chapter Of Coleman/Lyles Rivalry

The men’s 60m is always a source of intrigue and drama. Millrose was headlined by world record holder Christian Coleman, who won gold at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham in 2018 but then fell to rival Marcell Jacobs in Belgrade in 2022 by thousandths of a second. Coleman raced his first 60m of the season against a trio of Jamaicans, two fellow Americans, and veteran sprinters Hakim Sani Brown of Japan and Andre de Grasse of Canada. But really, everyone knows Coleman was chasing the 6.44 world-leading mark Noah Lyles set at New Balance last weekend, a time that was fast enough to make all the top short-sprinters nervous that Lyles had finally ironed out his last weakness – his start.

Coleman looked fairly comfortable taking the win in Millrose, but his time of 6.51 will surely have fans speculating that Lyles’s possible claim to the 60m indoor gold as well as Olympic titles at 100m and 200m is legit. An important caveat is that the sprinters at New Balance had the benefit of warming up with a qualifying round and the Millrose runners ran a straight final, and comparison of results across different races and different tracks will never be a perfect science. But until Coleman and Lyles face each other head-to-head, there’s ample evidence to suggest that there’s no clear favorite in the shortest sprinting event this season.

In the short two-hour TV window, there were many more exciting results than could fit in this recap– from unsponsored Dylan Beard’s upset win in the men’s hurdles, to Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s meet-record 2.00m leap in the high jump, to Geordie Beamish’s and Morgan McDonald’s national records in the men’s 2 mile.

You can catch up with all the results and post-race reactions and interviews on our YouTube channel, as well as subscribing to the CITIUS MAG and Lap Count newsletters for more indoor track analysis as the season continues.

Get ready for another big year of track and field. Stay up to date on all of it via CITIUS MAG. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, X, Threads, YouTube and across all podcast players.