Cameron Myers Wins The Bowerman Mile, Sets Another Australian Record

Cameron Myers made it two big wins in eight days on Saturday night, taking the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in 3 minutes, 46.06 seconds. The time is a personal best and a new Australian and Oceanian record. It is also his second national record in a week, following the 1,500 metres mark he set in Paris last Sunday.

Myers sat in the pack through the opening laps, moved up on the third, and took charge once the pacer stepped off with 1,000 metres to run. From there he pulled away from a fading Hobbs Kessler, then held off American mile record holder Yared Nuguse and Ethan Strand down the home straight with room to spare.

“I’m super excited,” Myers said afterwards. “I know I won Paris last week, but that wasn’t an official Diamond League. So it’s nice to finally win one. I had a few seconds and thirds in Diamond Leagues, so it’s great to win, especially in the Bowerman Mile.”

The 20-year-old, coached by Dick Telford in Canberra, sounded like a different athlete from the one who lined up here twelve months ago. “Last year I didn’t feel like I was a contender,” he said. “Now, I think I have the tools to work with any sort of race situation.”

A 20-year drought for the Americans

The Bowerman Mile is the meet’s marquee event and has produced more sub-four-minute miles than any race in the world. No American has won it since Bernard Lagat in 2006. Saturday didn’t change that, even with Nuguse, the American record holder, in the field.

Nuguse said afterwards he had a feeling this was coming. “I knew he was going to be fit,” he said. “Everybody saw Paris last week.”

The race lost a bit of its shine in the days before, when defending champion Niels Laros and Oregon’s NCAA 1,500 winner Simeon Birnbaum both scratched. A crowd of 12,452 turned up at Hayward anyway.

Matthew Centrowitz, the 2016 Olympic 1,500 champ and a seven-time Bowerman Mile starter, told The Oregonian the race still means what it always has. “It’s as good as it gets,” he said. “I think everyone has this race circled on their schedule every year.”

Chasing wins, not clocks

Myers has broken so many records this season, going back to his 3:47 mile at the Millrose Games in February, that he says the numbers no longer drive him.

“I feel like I’ve ticked off the times, so I’ll just turn my focus to winning the races, and that was the mindset I had today,” he said.

He waved off any talk of a legacy. “In 10, 15 years, some super kid is going to come here and break every record I set. So there’s no point putting any emphasis on that. It’s mainly about getting the title, and I can now call myself a Bowerman Mile winner.”

Next up is Glasgow, where Myers will prepare for the Commonwealth Games later this month.