© Copyright – 2023 – Athletics Illustrated
American 20-year-old, Hobbs Kessler, won the mile race at the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in the time of 3:56.13 in Riga, Latvia on Sunday. His finish time is a new pending world record. The Ann Arbor, Michigan native’s previous best was 3:58.73 from 2022. Taking silver was British runner Callum Elson in 3:56.41, while American Samuel Prakl took bronze in 3:56.43.
It was anyone’s race for over a kilometre before the Kessler broke hard from the crowd of more than a dozen and kicked hard for the line.
World Record, 3:56.13, for @hobbs_kessler !!!
— Global Athletics (@gamupdates) October 1, 2023
Congratulations to our newly crowned Mile World Champion and Record Holder @WorldAthletics Road Running Championships in Riga! pic.twitter.com/8hjEI7sfSC
Meanwhile, in the women’s race, Ethiopian Diribe Welteji and Freweyni Hailuh handed Kenyan Faith Kipyegon her first loss of 2023. Welteji, a 21-year-old clocked a world record time of 4:21.00 for the win. Fellow Ethiopian Freweyni Hailu (age 22) took second in 4:23.06. Kipyegon was relegated to third in a road personal best time of 4:24.13.
Kipyegon set a fast pace from the gun, but the challengers weren’t going away and stuck with the 29-year-old. Similarly to the men’s race, the women kicked hard over the final metres to create separation. Kipyegon, the 1500 metre and mile (1609m) track world record holder was stunned by the loss, going into the race fully expecting to win. Her world records are 3:49.11 and 4:07.64 both from the 2023 season.
On August 22, Welteji took 1500m silver behind Kipyegon at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships in the time of 3:55.69. Interestingly, she took fourth in the 800m and set her personal best the year prior during the 2022 Eugene World Athletics Championships. In that race, she clocked her personal best of 1:57.02.
What a finish to the women's road mile as 🇪🇹's Diribe Welteji outkicks Faith Kipyegon to clock a world record of 4:20.98 🤯#WorldRunningChamps pic.twitter.com/b1ZeiVAQij
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 1, 2023
At age 20, Hailuh took fourth at the 2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympic Games clocking 3:57.60. Her personal best is 3:53.93.
For Kessler, he holds world U20 records in the 1000m and 1500m distances. It was a natural progression for Kessler to move toward running as both his parents were competitive in the sport. He grew up playing several sports and was a nationally-ranked rock climber before switching to middle-distance running. Kessler currently trains under Ron Warhurst in the Very Nice Track Club. In September 2021, Kessler committed to Northern Arizona University.
Eleven men finished in under four minutes. Twenty-nine of 31 ran new personal best road times. Twenty-one of 25 women ran new personal bests.
Results
Sunday, October 1
Men’s Road Mile
| POS | ATHLETE | NAT | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hobbs KESSLER | USA | 3:56.13 WR |
| 2 | Callum ELSON | GBR | 3:56.41 PB |
| 3 | Samuel PRAKEL | USA | 3:56.43 PB |
| 4 | Maël GOUYETTE | FRA | 3:56.57 PB |
| 5 | Robert HEPPENSTALL | CAN | 3:56.98 PB |
| 6 | Ryan MPHAHLELE | RSA | 3:57.35 PB |
| 7 | Giovanni FILIPPI | ITA | 3:57.41 PB |
| 8 | Benoit CAMPION | FRA | 3:57.62 PB |
| 9 | Yobiel WELDRUFAEL | ERI | 3:57.94 PB |
| 10 | Jack ANSTEY | AUS | 3:58.30 PB |
| 11 | Teddese LEMI | ETH | 3:59.40 PB |
| 12 | Matthew RAMSDEN | AUS | 4:00.32 PB |
| 13 | Kyumbe MUNGUTI | KEN | 4:00.67 PB |
| 14 | Salim Abu MAYANJA | UGA | 4:00.72 PB |
| 15 | Keneth KIPROP | UGA | 4:00.77 PB |
| 16 | Ryoji TATEZAWA | JPN | 4:01.26 PB |
| 17 | Santtu HEIKKINEN | FIN | 4:01.35 PB |
| 18 | Guilherme KURTZ | BRA | 4:02.75 PB |
| 19 | Natnael TEKLESENBET | ERI | 4:03.18 PB |
| 20 | Yusuke TAKAHASHI | JPN | 4:03.32 PB |
| 21 | Andreas LINDGREEN | DEN | 4:05.27 |
| 22 | Reynold Kipkorir CHERUIYOT | KEN | 4:05.91 PB |
| 23 | Christoffer Frost JOHANSEN | DEN | 4:06.54 CR |
| 24 | Mohamed ATTAOUI | ESP | 4:06.59 PB |
| 25 | Gonzalo GARCÍA | ESP | 4:07.81 PB |
| 26 | Mohad ABDIKADAR SHEIK ALI | ITA | 4:11.60 PB |
| 27 | Andrzej KOWALCZYK | POL | 4:12.70 PB |
| 28 | Olavi ALLASE | EST | 4:14.18 PB |
| 29 | Deniss ŠALKAUSKAS | EST | 4:16.02 PB |
| 30 | Nikita BOGDANOVS | LAT | 4:18.90 PB |
| 31 | Filip OSTROWSKI | POL | 4:19.49 PB |
| 32 | Janis RAZGALIS | LAT | 4:23.08 |
Women’s Road Mile
| POS | ATHLETE | NAT | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diribe WELTEJI | ETH | 4:21.00 WR wo |
| 2 | Freweyni HAILU | ETH | 4:23.06 PB |
| 3 | Faith KIPYEGON | KEN | 4:24.13 PB |
| 4 | Nelly CHEPCHIRCHIR | KEN | 4:31.18 PB |
| 5 | Jessica HULL | AUS | 4:32.45 PB |
| 6 | Marta PÉREZ | ESP | 4:34.12 CR |
| 7 | Berenice CLEYET-MERLE | FRA | 4:34.41 PB |
| 8 | Nozomi TANAKA | JPN | 4:35.32 |
| 9 | Addison WILEY | USA | 4:36.03 |
| 10 | Marissa DAMINK | NED | 4:36.49 PB |
| 11 | Charlotte MOUCHET | FRA | 4:36.71 PB |
| 12 | Glynis SIM | CAN | 4:36.81 PB |
| 13 | Weronika LIZAKOWSKA | POL | 4:37.04 PB |
| 14 | Sarah BILLINGS | AUS | 4:38.97 PB |
| 15 | Carina VILJOEN | RSA | 4:39.01 PB |
| 16 | Sarah MCDONALD | GBR | 4:40.14 SB |
| 17 | Helen SCHLACHTENHAUFEN | USA | 4:40.28 |
| 18 | Prisca CHESANG | UGA | 4:45.42 PB |
| 19 | María Pía FERNÁNDEZ | URU | 4:45.81 PB |
| 20 | Aleksandra PŁOCIŃSKA | POL | 4:46.50 PB |
| 21 | Veronika SADEK | SLO | 4:47.00 PB |
| 22 | Regan YEE | CAN | 4:48.31 PB |
| 23 | Roza HAILE | ERI | 4:49.43 PB |
| 24 | Jaqueline Beatriz WEBER | BRA | 4:50.11 NR |
| 25 | Gina MCNAMARA | MLT | 4:53.54 SB |
