INDIANAPOLIS -- Following a stellar Festival of Miles performance on June 4 in St. Louis,
Grant Fisher wins USATF Athlete of the Week after becoming the seventh U.S high schooler to break four minutes in the mile.
Fisher (Grand Blanc, Michigan), who competed against professional runners, finished third overall with a time of 3:59.38, running his first split in 1:02.18, reaching the halfway point at 2:02.16 and heading into his final lap at 3:00.59.
With the finish, Fisher becomes the second high school athlete this year to break the four minute barrier after Matthew Maton was the first. This is the first year in history two high schoolers have recorded sub-4:00 miles.
“The four-minute barrier was kind of becoming a burden on me, so to have that out of the way and have these races coming up, my goals are to get in there and compete,” Fisher said. “It’s not really about time or anything. I know the guys in those races will carry me through to fast times.”
Fisher, who heads to Stanford in the fall to run collegiately, will compete later this weekend in New York City at the adidas Grand Prix in the Boys’ Dream Mile, which he won last year in 4:02.02.
Track & field fans can watch Fisher compete in the adidas Boys’ Dream Mile on
USATF.TV.
Other notable performances this week include:
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Justin Gatlin (Clermont, Florida) continued his dominating season, running 9.75 in the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Rome. This was Gatlin’s second race under 9.8 in just over a week.
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Jenny Simpson (Boulder, Colorado) won the 1500m, moving from third to first place in the last 50 meters at the Diamond League meeting in Rome. Simpson finished in 3:59.31 to become the first woman to run sub-4:00 this year.
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Sonja Friend-Uhl (Nashville, Tennessee) broke the listed W40 American Masters outdoor record, finishing in 4:45.68 at the Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee, where she took down the legendary Alisa Harvey’s 4:46.29, set in 2012.
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Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, California) narrowly defeated Allyson Felix in 200m at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, England, where the two ran to a photo finish, each crossing in 22.29.
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Michael Norman (Murrieta, California), a high school junior, won the 200m in 20.30 and the 400m in 45.19 at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track and Field Championships. Norman’s times move him into the No. 6 position on high school all-time lists for both events.
Now in its 14th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on www.usatf.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2015 Winners: January 15, Chris Derrick; January 21, Demi Payne; January 28, Casimir Loxsom; February 4, Anselm LeBourne; February 11, Jenny Simpson; February 18, Brycen Spratling; February 25, Maksim Korolev; March 4, Shannon Rowbury; March 11, Mary Norckauer; March 18, Daloria Boone; March 25, Irene Obera; April 2, Michael Stigler; April 8, Allen Woodard; April 15, Joe Kovacs; April 22, Vashti Cunningham; April 29, Jasmin Stowers; May 6, Sanya Richards-Ross; May 13, Bernard Lagat; May 20, Christian Taylor; May 27, David Oliver; June 3, Joe Kovacs; June 9, Grant Fisher.
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About USATF
USA Track & Field is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country’s No. 1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, visit http://www.usatf.org/.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to Communications@usatf.org.
Olivia Odle
Communications Intern
Olivia.Odle@usatf.org