Cameron Myers takes down world champ in stunning slice of Aussie athletics history

Aussie athletics prodigy Cameron Myers has produced the world-leading time in the 1500m in another stunning statement ahead of the Paris Olympics. The 17-year-old from Canberra won the event at the NSW Milers meet in Sydney on Thursday night with a time of three minutes, 33.30 seconds.

The incredible time is the world-leading mark for the 1500m so far this year (indoors or outdoors), and also the fastest in history by an Australian in Australia. It is also the fastest time in Australia (by any runner) in 23 years, and the seventh-fastest time in Australia in the history of the event.

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Myers beat Jesse Hunt (3:33.64) and Jake Wightman of Scotland (3:34.31), who won the 1500m title at the world championships in 2022. "That's pretty surreal," Myers told Wide World of Sports at the meet at The Crest Athletics Track in Sydney's west.

"I'm not too worried about who I'm beating and whose scalp I'm getting. I'm just trying to run as fast as I can and get the wins, ultimately. I'm pretty fit and I'm a lot further down the track than some of the other guys, so I've got that race-specific fitness now, and it's just about carrying that momentum through the rest of the season."

Remarkably, Myers' time wasn't even his personal best in the 1500m. He ran a 3:33.26 in a Diamond League event in July last year. With the entry time for the Olympics sitting at 3:33.50, Myers is well on his way to the Paris Games in July.

Cameron Myers making waves in world athletics

Myers shot to prominence in February of 2023 when he became the second-youngest person ever to break the four-minute mile mark. Aged 16 years and 259 days at the time, Myers clocked an extraordinary time of three minutes, 55.44 seconds at the Maurie Plant Classic in Melbourne.

He finished third in the 1500m race behind Commonwealth Games champion Ollie Hoare, however he was the talk of the athletics world afterwards. Myers became the second-youngest runner behind only the great Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen to go under four minutes.

However Myers' time was actually faster than that of Ingebridtsen, breaking the world record for 16 year olds. Ingebrigtsen was nine days younger than Myers when he first broke the four-minute barrier, clocking 3:58.07 in May of 2017.

"He did it nine days earlier than I did it today," Myers said at the time. "Obviously it would have been cool to do it in early February but it didn't fit in with my timetable. It's a really big confidence booster but I've got to stay humble and keep working hard."

Myers finished third at the Maurie Plant meet again this year, behind Stewart McSweyn and Wightman. His victory on Thursday night will come as sweet revenge and shows he is one to watch come Olympics time.

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