2023 was the year of middle-distance runner, Yared Nuguse. The 24-year-old accomplished several feats throughout the year in both indoor as well as outdoor events. He also made an appearance at the Budapest WAC and bagged the fifth position in the 1500m race. While it may seem that Nuguse worked really hard this year, a social media post highlighted how his furnace was always burning.

The viral post showcases a stark difference between his current performance and how he fared nine years ago. It may seem he improved by just a minute in all these years. However, this one minute was the difference between a regular performance and a national record.

Yared Nuguse and his nearly decade-long improvement

Yared Nuguse didn?t take track and field seriously at one point. In fact, he was studying at the University of Notre Dame to pursue a career in biochemistry. Nuguse added the American record for the fastest mile run to his shelf, where he already holds three national records. Yared Nuguse became the fastest North American indoor record holder for a mile. In fact, he also chased down and defeated his Budapest WAC Nemesis, Josh Kerr, at the Zurich Diamond League. The social media post on X (formerly Twitter) showed the images of Nuguse from Eugene in 2023, and another one from 2014.

According to the tweet from Track Spice,??Nine years later and nearly a minute faster, former duPont Manual standout Yared Nuguse is the new American record holder in the mile.??The images also showed a strong difference between the physical features of Yared Nuguse as a result of his training. Nuguse beat the previous American record of 3:46.91 with his 3:43.97 set 16 years ago. While Nuguse broke the American record, he still fell short of the gold medal, which was clinched by Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Moreover, both runners missed the world record by a margin that seemed small on paper but actually spans an entire chasm.

The middle ground between a slight but large margin

The new American record ran very close to the world record of 3:43.13. An interviewer asked Nuguse and Ingebrigtsen about the world record and told them how they ?just? missed it. Ingebrigtsen spoke to the interviewer and said,??No, it?s not ?just? It?s quite a margin.??The Norwegian sprinter?s words ring loud with truth, as Nuguse and Ingebrigtsen make two of the only four runners to post a sub-3:44 time. In fact, the bronze medalist at Eugene crossed the finish line 3.72 seconds after Yared Nuguse.?

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This further emphasizes the value of the improvement made by Nuguse after nine years of dedicated hard work. Despite the slight but huge margin between his personal best and the world record, Nuguse is looking forward to breaking it to pieces. While the 2023 season of track and field has come to an end, the road to Paris is just 309 days away. Will Nuguse beat Ingebrigtsen in Paris just the way he beat Josh Kerr?

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