Hocker Wins Milrose Games 2-mile, Lutkenhaus Breaks U20 600m World Record

Many of the world’s top athletes flocked to New York this weekend for the second World Athletics Gold Tour event of the year, the Milrose Games.

Arguably, the deepest field was in the men’s two-mile, with the line-up featuring Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr, and world steeplechase champion Geordie Beamish, among others.

By the end of the week, we saw eight new world leads between the Milrose Games and meetings across Europe. Here are some of the top stories from the past seven days.

The Oval Update Athlete of the Week

Our pick for Athlete of the Week is Cole Hocker, for his victory in the 2-mile this weekend in New York at the Milrose Games

In a stacked field, it was the Olympic 1,500-meter champion and world 5,000-meter champion Hocker who pulled ahead, running 8:07.31 to edge out Josh Kerr and Parker Wolfe.

It was Hocker’s third time racing this season, finishing fourth in the men’s 3,000-meter two days before (where Josh Kerr took the win) and opening in the 2,000-meter in Virginia about a week ago.

Josh Kerr finished 0.37 seconds behind Hocker, running 8:07.68. Parker Wolfe was on his heels with 8:07.83.

Cooper Lutkenhaus Breaks World U20 Record in the 600-meter

Cooper Lutkenhaus is a name you’re likely going to be hearing a lot in the next several years. He turned 17 a little over a month ago, but already sits 43rd in the world 800-meter rankings.

He smashed the world U20 record in the 600-meter over the weekend at the age of 17, running 1:14.15. The time comes a week after running 1:45.23 in the 800-meter in Boston to break the North American U20 record.

Lutkenaus’ time from this weekend is also the 13th fastest time ever run at the distance.

Lutkenhaus previously broke the 800-meter world U18 record last summer, running 1:42.27. He also became the youngest American to ever compete at the World Championships.

Big Weekend for the Shot Put

Olympic Bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell had a big throw this weekend at the Milrose Games, posting 21.77 meters to take the world lead in his season opener, more than 1.30 meters farther than his opener from last season.

Just behind him, Joe Kovacs got his season started with 21.21 meters. Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Roger Steen also both threw over 20 meters, with distances of 20.63 meters and 20.30 meters, respectively.

On the women’s side, Olympic Champion Yemisi Ogunleye set the second farthest throw in the world this year with 19.86 meters in Germany. Only the Canadian Sarah Mitton has thrown farther, with a throw of 20.22 meters the weekend before in Saskatoon, Canada.

Ogunleye followed this performance up with 19.66 meters the next day.

Cameron Myers Sets Two World Leads

19-year-old Australian, Cameron Myers, set a new world lead in the 1,500-meter at the Milrose Games with a time of 3:32.78, narrowly edging out Hobbs Kessler (3:32.99) and Yared Nuguse. (3:33.07). He remains undefeated this season after winning the mile (3:47.57) on the same day at the Millrose Games and the 3,000-meter in Boston the week before.

Women’s 400-meter and 800-meter World Leads

On the women’s side, Audrey Werro set a new 800-meter world lead, running 1:57.49 short track in France. Last year at the same competition, she opened her season with a time of 2:00.34 before eventually finishing sixth in Tokyo at the World Championships with a time of 1:56.17.

Back in the United States, two-time Olympic 400-meter champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo ran a world lead in the 300-meter, clocking 35.79 seconds at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina.

Men’s and Women’s Triple Jump World Leads

Leyanis Pérez Hernández opened her season in a big way, jumping 14.65 meters in the women’s triple jump in France. Former World Champion in the long jump, Ivana Španović, previously set the world lead three days before with her leap of 14.41 meters in Belgrade.

Russian jumper Ilya Telkunov took a lead in the men’s triple jump with his jump of 16.82 meters on home soil. Russian athletes are still not eligible to compete internationally due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Other Performances

Here’s a list of all of the athletes who set a world top three mark this weekend:

Coming Up Next Week

The season will be in full swing this week with three gold tour events:

• The Czech Indoor Gala on February 3 (Ostrava, Czechia)
• World Indoor Tour Gold Madrid on February 6 (Madrid, Spain)
• INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe on February 8 (Karlsruhe, Germany)

The 12th Asian Indoor Championships will also be held from February 6–8 in Tianjin, China.