NZ’s Ruthe is youngest athlete to run a sub four-minute mile

New Zealander Sam Ruthe became the youngest athlete to run a sub-four minute mile when he broke the mark on Tuesday (March 18, 2025) 24 days short of his 16th birthday.

Ruthe ran 3 minutes, 58.35 seconds in a paced mile at the Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland. New Zealand Olympian Sam Tanner and Ben Wall, who were his pacemakers, also went under four minutes.

Ruthe is the first 15-year-old to run under the 4-minute mark. Athletics New Zealand said Norway’s two-time Olympic champion Jackob Ingebrigtsen set the previous mark for the youngest runner to go under 4 minutes for the mile when he ran 3:58.07 in 2017 when he 16 years, 250 days old.