Three American Records Trampled On The Armory Track To Highlight NYRR Millrose Games

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

NEW YORK CITY – Ajee’ Wilson and Donavan Brazier running down their own American records in the 800 meters at the NYRR Millrose Games are bankable moments that come from two U.S. medal contenders at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.

Elinor Purrier’s American record in the Women’s Wanamaker Mile was a bit more magical – a breakthrough moment in a young career that was shocking, even to her. Purrier sped through the finish line in 4:16.85 as the top four women all broke national records.

Purrier became the second-fastest women’s indoor miler in history – behind only Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba – and the 10th-fastest to ever cover the distance indoors or out. The only U.S. woman to ever run a mile faster was Mary Slaney, outdoors, in 1985 (4:16.71).

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She was stunned trying to process the result.

“I’m still trying to grasp it,” Purrier said. “I’m so surprised.”

Purrier, who grew up on a farm just a few miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border in Vermont and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2018, stripped an astonishing eight seconds off her previous personal best.

“Honestly it’s only my second race indoors so far, so I wasn’t sure of my fitness,” she said. “The race I did two weeks ago went well, but I wasn’t really sure.”

Purrier unleashed a big kick to run down and overtake 2019 Women’s Wanamaker winner Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who was the first to 1,500 meters (3:59.87). Purrier made up three-tenths of a second in the final 100 meters and swept around the final turn to grab first place.

Klosterhalfen broke her own German record with a second-place finish in 4:17.26. Jemme Reekie broke the British record in third with 4:17.88 and Gabriella Debues-Stafford broke the Canadian record in fourth with 4:19.73.

Brazier, the world champion in the 800 meters outdoors, showed his incredible talent with a tremendous acceleration over the final 250 meters. He ran the final 200-meter circuit in 24.89 and broke the finish tape in 1:44.22.

Brazier ran 53.04 for the first half of the race and was sitting in fifth.

“Coach (Pete Julian) kept telling me ‘Don’t put yourself on the rabbit. Just put yourself in fourth or fifth position and see what you can do from there,’” Brazier said. “He said with 250 left make a strong kick and don’t look back. I just tried to execute that as perfectly as possible.”

He first broke the American record at Millrose in 2019 when he ran 1:44.41, but he finished second in that race. Saturday’s win was Brazier’s first at The Armory in five tries.

In a race where he was practicing his race tactics, the pace was fast enough, and Brazier’s kick was strong enough, to put the record in play.

“When I saw the clock go 1:42, 1:43, I thought ‘Oh God, I’m going to have a chance,’” Brazier said. “To get it by point-two seconds there’s not much room for error there, but when I passed the clock and realized I had broke it I was really happy.”

U.S. teammate Bryce Hoppel lowered his indoor PR to 1:45.70 for a personal best.

Wilson won the women’s 800 meters for the fifth time. And at just 25 years of age, she is one win away from matching the six wins of Joetta Clark between 1985-96 for the most in Millrose history.

Like Brazier, Wilson remained patient before using her speed to overtake Jamaica’s Natoya Goule on the last lap and came home strong in 1:58.29. That beat her record time of 1:58.60, set in last year’s NYRR Millrose Games.

“The magic that comes with the atmosphere of the crowd makes this is a special meet,” Wilson said.

Her rise to superstardom has been charted at The Armory and at Millrose, where she worked to qualify for the girls high school mile at Neptune High in New Jersey back in 2011, the last year the meet was held in Madison Square Garden.

“I still remember my first meet (here) as a pro,” Wilson said. “I didn’t wear my adidas because I was kind of embarrassed. There was still a lot of talk about my decision (to skip college) and I still wasn’t super confident that was the right move for me, so I wore a plain T-shirt and some shorts. So for seven years later to have the experiences I’ve had at Millrose, it’s jaw-dropping.”