"I didn’t really have expectations of getting a standard or anything." - Yared Nuguse on clocking Olympic standard time at the BU Indoor meet
American middle-distance runner Yared Nuguse achieved the Paris Olympics 2024 standard time by clocking a personal best (PB) of 13:02.09 in the scarlet heat of the men’s 5K at the Boston University Terrier Classic 2024.
In the same event Kenya’s Edwin Kurgat pulled away from his competitors with just two laps to go, to finish first with a PB time of 12:57.52. George Mills of Great Britain clocked 12:58.68, just 1.16 shy of Kurgat’s timing. All the top five finishers in this race accomplished the Olympics qualifying time of 13:05.00.
In a YouTube video released by Citius Mag, a digital media platform known for producing athletics news, analysis, videos, newsletters, and podcasts, Yared Nuguse revealed in the interview how he felt after finishing third and bagging the Olympic standard time. He said:
“I’m feeling pretty good. Coming into this race I didn’t really have expectations of getting a standard or anything. Kind of just come out with the boys and see what happens. Really tough race obviously but I’m happy with how I did it, how I come away with my third, and the time I got.”
Yared Nuguse will also be seen in action at the Millrose Games 2024, scheduled on February 11, 2024. The 116th edition of the Millrose Games will see numerous Olympic and World Championships medalists making their season debut and competing for top positions.
It is worth noting that Nuguse’s performance at this event won’t earn him a spot in the Olympics. For the U.S. athletes, it is the United States Olympic trials that determine who will represent the nation at the Summer Games.
The U.S. Olympic Trials for the Paris Olympics 2024 are slated to be held on June 21 to 30, 2024, at the Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
Yared Nuguse is an American record holder in the 3000m indoors and 1500m and mile outdoors
At the Boston University Terrier Classic in January 2023, Yared Nuguse smashed the indoor American record in the men’s 3000m with a time of 7:28.24. He did so by running two seconds faster than the mark established by Galen Rupp in February 2013.
This mark by Yuguse was also better than Grant Fisher's outdoor mark, another middle and long-distance runner, who ran a time of 7:28.48 in 2022. Besides this, he also holds the outdoor records in 1500 meters, set at 3:29.02 in Oslo Diamond League 2023, and one mile (3:47.38).