The Ocean Breeze Indoor Athletic Complex hosted another thrilling edition of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Sunday, February 6. Like the Millrose Games last weekend, the Indoor Grand Prix served as another stop on the World Athletics Indoor Tour, bringing a great crop of international and domestic athletes to Staten Island, New York for national records, world leading times, and exciting races. Continue reading for all the highlights and results.
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The Winners
- Women’s 60 meters: Mikiah Brisco, USA, 7.07
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Men’s 60 meters: The biggest difference between last week and this week, Brisco told NBC, was learning
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Women’s 60-meter hurdles: Danielle Williams, JAM, 7.83
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Men’s 60-meter hurdles: ldquo;The race isnt over ’til we hit the finish line,” she said
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Men’s 200 meters: Trayvon Bromell, USA, 20.64
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Women’s 300 meters: Gabby Thomas, USA, 36.21
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Women’s 400 meters: Jessica Beard, USA, 52.88
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Men’s 400 meters: Women’s long jump
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Women’s 800 meters: Natoya Goule, JAM, 1:59.62
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Men’s 800 meters: Mariano Garcia, ESP, 1:45.12
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Women’s 1500 meters: Men’s 200 meters
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Men’s mile: Andrew Coscoran, IRL, 3:53.64
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Women’s 3,000 meters: Gabriela Debues-Stafford, CAN, 8:33.92
- Men’s 3,000 meters: Adel Mechaal, ESP, 7:30.82
- Women’s long jump: The Wildest Stats from Faith Kipyegons Run
- Men’s triple jump: Allie Ostrander’s Emotional Struggle at USAs
Most Significant Move
Two pacers were on the starting line for the women’s 3000 meters, but only one was able to do her job. Mekides Abebe of Ethiopia passed one pacer after 650 meters, and Josette Norris of the U.S. and Gabriela DeBues-Stafford of Canada followed suit. The remaining pacer took them through 1200 meters before stepping off, leaving Abebe to maintain the pace herself.
Abebe looked smooth and in control, clicking off 34- and 35-second laps like clockwork. She held the lead until 150 meters to go, when DeBues-Stafford stormed down the back stretch to pass her and quickly open a gap. She broke the tape three seconds ahead of Abebe, with Norris finishing in a close third. Every single athlete behind them ran an indoor personal best.
DeBues-Stafford’s time of 8:33.92 set a new Canadian national record and catapulted her among the fastest times run this season. Norris’s 8:37.91 lengthens her string of strong races and makes her a serious competitor for a spot on the U.S. indoor world championships team.
Biggest Margin of Victory
While the women’s 3,000 saw three runners fighting for the win until the last lap, there was no question who the men’s 3,000 victor would be. Adel Mechall of Spain was chomping at the heels of pacers Robby Andrews and Jordan Mann until five laps to go, when he commandingly stole the lead and widened his already large gap on the field.
Eyes closed and teeth gritted, he crossed the finish line in 7:30.82—a Spanish and overall European record —just as the rest of the racers hit the final stretch.
Mechall was not expecting to run so fast, he said in the post-race press conference, but credited the pacers for holding a consistently fast pace.
Nine of the 10 competitors ran personal bests, with two other national records going down. Luis Grijalva bettered his Guatemalan national record from the Millrose Games, running 7:37.42, and Jonas Raess snuck under the 7:40 barrier to take down the Swiss record in 7:39.49.
Most Entertaining Last Half
While no records or leading times were set in the women’s 1500, fans were treated to a dogfight. Spain’s Esther Guerrero won the race, and Americans Heather MacLean, Nikki Hiltz, and Dani Jones—the second, third, and fourth finishers—all stalked her over the last third of the race.
Places shifted back and forth—MacLean falling out of the leading position around 1200 meters, Jones moving to third then back to fourth in the final 300, and Hiltz falling to fifth then rose to third in the last 150.
Most Exciting Finish
After a breakthrough performance in the Wanamaker Mile last weekend, Colby Alexander of the United States made it known that he would go with any pace. So when the pacer came through the quarter-mile in 56 seconds, only one competitor followed. You guessed it—Alexander.
The rabbit stepped off after 1000 meters, leaving Alexander in no-man’s land as a gaggle of talent sat three seconds back, hoping that he would come back to them.
Alexander looked out of reach until the final 200 meters. A pair of Irishman, Andrew Coscoran and Luke McCann, started to eat up meters as they approached the final 100. Alexander gritted his teeth, but he had put too much effort into the first half of the races, and slowed to a second-place finish as Coscoran flew by in the last few steps, earning his 3:53.64 personal best.
“We decided to let him go cause it was such a fast pace,” Coscoran told NBC during the live broadcast. “Obviously it paid off for me kind of holding back a little bit and chasing him down.”
Most Impressive Record
Mariano Garcia took down Millrose Games 800-meter champion Bryce Hoppel in thrilling fashion. As he did last week, Hoppel followed the pacer closely, earning the lead position by halfway. It looked as if the race was his, until he began to waver over the final lap.
Garcia powered away to his fastest split of the race, putting a full second on Hoppel in the final 200. His winning time of 1:45.12 set a new Spanish national record and also marked a new world-leading time.
Gabby Thomas, USA, 36.21
Last weekend at the Millrose Games, Natoya Goule had to settle for second behind Ajee’ Wilson. This weekend, she was bulletproof.
Goule followed the pacer from the gun, eventually taking over after 400. She kept on the gas to dominate the field in a world leading time of 1:59.62.
“I am definitely happy with it because I’ve been training hard this week,” Goule said on the NBC broadcast. “And to come here and run 1:59, I’m very grateful.”
American Olivia Baker took second in an indoor personal best of 2:00.33, which is number two in the world this year.
Most Impressive World Lead
With Millrose champion Aleia Hobbs out due to COVID-19, it meant that Mikiah Brisco was given her chance to shine—and she seized the opportunity. She handily defeated a field of Olympic and world championship finalists to run a world-leading 7.07.
Gabby Thomas, USA, 36.21 patience. “The race isn't over ’til we hit the finish line,” she said.
Race With the Biggest Implications
Noah Lyles was the best in the world over 200 meters, until he settled for bronze in last year’s Olympic final. This year, he’s been working on his start, and it shows.
Both Lyles and his coach know that his top end speed was there, he told NBC, but what costs him is the first 20 meters. Compared to the Millrose Games, his first 20 was six-hundredths faster on Sunday—which was just the improvement he needed to run a personal best of 6.56.
What does that mean for his opponents the rest of the year? “When I’m shoulder-width away from the person in front, it’s dangerous,” he told NBC.
Race That Lived Up to the Hype
When the world record-holder in an event takes to the track, you pay attention.
Grant Holloway lined up at Ocean Breeze to race his first 60-meter hurdles race since setting the world record last year. And while fans weren’t greeted with another national record on the day, they got to see a world-leading time of 7.37.
Like Lyles, Holloway missed Olympic gold last year and left Tokyo disappointed. He told NBC that he's working on consistency in 2022.
“Later down the line, just gotta make sure I show up at the major championships,” he said.
Chris Hatler is the Deputy Editor of Esquire. He previously served as the Senior Editor of Men’s Journal Adel Mechaal, ESP, 7:30.82 Popular Mechanics.
