Is Sam Ruthe the most exciting teenage runner in the world right now?
He may be, and when you look at the numbers, your jaw will drop. He is a New Zealand prodigy who became the youngest person in the world to break the four-minute mile barrier, at the ripe old age of 15 in March of 2025 (he ran a 3:58.35). For reference, Jakob Ingebrigtsen did it at 16.
In December of 2025, He set a New Zealand under-20 record in his 5000m debut, running 13:40.48. He also won the New Zealand senior men’s 3000m national championship with a time of 7:56.18, in the process becoming the youngest men’schampion in New Zealand athletics history.
It doesn’t stop there: he ran a 1500m PR of 3:39.17 in July, lowering his own national under-17 and under-18 1500m records. The went and smashed it again in the 800 and 1500m, with times of 1:46.81 and 3:38.62.
Recently, in January, he set an all-time world best for a 16 year old in the 1000m with a time of 2:17.82.
He’s got world best times at 1000m, national records across distances, and a sub-4-minute mile before age 16. This isn’tjust hype, it’s history. Sam Ruthe is here to break it all down.
Tap into the Sam Ruthe Special.
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