One Mile, Two Records: Inside Jakob Ingebrigtsen & Yared Nuguse’s Rivalry
3:47.01. Three minutes and forty-seven seconds. For years, that was the time for the fastest indoor mile. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha etched his name into history in 2019, and no one could touch it for six years. That all changed on February 8th, 2025. Enter Yared Nuguse, the American running phenomenon who claimed his spot in the world records book. However- just five days later, Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen snatched the record from Yared, beating his time by barely a second: two runners, five days, one record. Let’s talk about it.
Yared Nuguse Indoor Mile Time (Getty Images)
Yared Nuguse is a running sensation who has been pushing himself since the beginning, breaking records and earning medals. He is also a Swiftie, so he automatically earns our attention on that front. On February 8th, 2025, Yared broke the world record for the indoor mile, leaving jaws dropped. The time of 3:46.63 minutes set the new record, but unfortunately, Yared did not maintain that for long. Five short days later, Jakob Ingebrigtsen beat Yared’s time by over a second at 3:45.14.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen Indoor Mile Record (Getty Images)
A record that remained unchallenged for six years was broken twice within a week. As we celebrate these remarkable achievements by both athletes, it's worth looking into their past competitions.
In August 2024, at the Paris Olympics, Yared won the bronze medal in the 1500-meter race, his specialty. In that race, he outkicked Jakob in the final 100 meters. However, Jakob got his revenge last week when he broke the world record set just days earlier. He shared the news on Instagram, posting a caption about his achievement.
“Sorry @yaredthegoose! Looking forward to race you. Best, Jakgoat.”
We can see that this is friendly competition from the way Yared responded.
“As do I, but I know you don’t want the smoke in Mario Kart again.”
Yared and Jakob Post Race (Getty Images)
In a YouTube video, Yared recently addressed his feelings about the relatively short duration of his record-holding career. He stated, “At the end of the day, we want medals, not records. Records can be broken, but medals last forever.”
While he acknowledged that he would be remembered as a “former world record holder,” he expressed that having a record broken sooner rather than later is actually beneficial because it reflects “growth in the sport.”
Yared also engaged in some lighthearted banter about Jakob's potential to break records again, expressing confidence in his strategy.
The Sportsish world is grateful for the positivity in the competition and the pride they feel for each other as two fast racers, and we hope to see more of that in the world.