The amazing Sam Ruthe

Like many NZers I first heard of Sam Ruthe last year when he started to break NZ age records for the mile and other middle distances.

In March he became the first 15 year old to do a sub 4 minute mile. It wasn’t clear then if he was just going to be an exceptional athlete for his age group, or just exceptional full stop.

But this weekend he ran the 11th faster indoor mile ever in the world. That is an incredible achievement at any age, let alone 16. He also broke John Walker’s 1982 NZ mile record and set a new under 18 world record.

Ruthe is now faster than Sebastian Coe was in 1981 when he set a world record as a 25 year old.

I have a feeling we know who the Halberg Award winner for 2026 is going to be, even with 11 months to go!

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