Here’s everything you missed from the Millrose Games: The Women by Oliver Hinson, For RunBlogRun 

This is Oliver Hinson’s second feature on the 116th Millrose Games. Oliver wrote his first piece on the Men’s Millrose Games events. I enjoy Oliver’s relaxed style and his keen observation skills. Oliver, Jeff Benjamin and Elliott Denman were at Millrose to cover the event for RunBlogRun. Great job, Oliver! 

Here’s everything you missed from the Millrose Games: The Women

by Oliver Hinson, For RunBlogRun 

Clarity wins in journalism, so I’ll summarize today’s action in one word: fireworks. Naturally, when you put hundreds of the world’s best athletes in the same small building with 5,000 die-hard fans, things can get pretty raucous. 

The 2024 edition may have been one of the loudest and busiest, though. Two world records fell, as well as several national and facility records. If you didn’t make the trip up to New York, here’s what you missed from the day’s track action.

Women’s 60-meter hurdles

If anyone who bought a ticket was on the fence about whether it was money well spent, this race should have eliminated all doubts. Puma’s Devynne Charleton convincingly won and broke the world record, running 7.67. 

“Just based on numbers that we were putting up in practice, I knew that I was capable [of breaking 7.7] as long as I put the race together,” Charleton said.

Charleton was already .07 seconds ahead of everyone else by the third hurdle, and by the end, she nearly doubled her lead – no one else crossed until 7.79.  After the race, she heard an announcer say something that might have sounded like “world record,” but she didn’t know for sure until she saw the number on the board. 

“I can’t describe that moment,” Charleton said.

It also meant a lot to Charleton that she represented her country, the Bahamas, in such an impressive way.

“I always get so much support from the Bahaman community,” Charleton said. “I know they’re tuned in whenever I compete, and it means so much. We’re a small country, so to be one of the ones literally on top of the world, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Danielle Williams, Tia Jones, and Ackera Nugent were all in a close battle for second place, and they finished in that order. Williams beat Jones by two-thousandths of a second – 7.784 to 7.786 – while Nugent ran 7.80. World champion Nia Ali, one of the heavy favorites, finished well back in 7.95.

Women’s 60-meter dash

No world records fell in this one, but Julien Alfred set the world lead and broke the meet and facility records with a 6.99 mark. Alfred, the former Texas standout and 2023 Bowerman award winner, turned pro after the 2023 outdoor season, and she has started her professional career with a bang. She finished fourth in the 100-meter dash at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year and fifth in the 200-meter dash. This year, she will almost certainly compete for St. Lucia at the Paris Olympics, and she has said that she wants to bring the country its first Olympic medal.

The field was not especially deep behind Alfred today. Jamaican Shashalee Forbes finished second in 7.14, followed by American Destiny Smith-Barnett in 7.16. In August, Alfred will have to contend with ShaCarri Richardson, Shericka Jackson, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, among others.

Still, a sub-7 mark is no joke. Look out for Julien Alfred this year.

Women’s 300-meter dash

There wasn’t much hype for this race, as only four runners toed the line, but it still deserves to be covered. Talitha Diggs was the favorite, and she won with a time of 36.21 seconds, just ahead of Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke, who finished in 36.42 seconds. 

Diggs will be an athlete to watch this season. After becoming the second woman in NCAA history to win NCAA indoor and outdoor titles and a national title in the same year, she had a disappointing performance at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, failing to place in the top three in the 200 and the 400. However, she bounced back in July, making her second national team in the 400 and finishing 8th at the World Championships in Budapest.

This race was her season opener, so we’ll see if she keeps her momentum throughout the winter and spring. Diggs’ mother, Joetta Clark Diggs, is a four-time Olympian.

Women’s 800-meter run

This race was a close one. Unlike many other events, there was no real favorite coming in, and we saw why. Through the 600 mark, all six runners were bunched between 1:30.15 and 1:30.76, and it came down to a kick by Allie Wilson to decide the race. Wilson lost to her former teammate, Olivia Baker, at the Dr. Sander Invitational 800 in January, and Baker held the lead at the bell lap in this race. Wilson refused to have a repeat, though, and she eked out the win in 2:01.61, while Baker ran 2:01.91. Lorena Martin nearly caught Baker for second, but she just missed it, finishing in 2:01.93. 

Kaela Edwards finished fourth in 2:02.06, and Gabija Galvydyte was fifth in 2:02.24.

Raevyn Rogers, meanwhile, faded to the back of the pack after leading through the first 200 meters. She was in a solid position through 600 but fell from third to sixth over the last 200. 

Women’s Wanamaker Mile

In my article about the men’s action, I mentioned that we could name the 60-meter dash for Christian Coleman. I know it’s a long shot, but if we do that, it’s only fair we change the name of the Wanamaker Mile to the St. Pierre Mile. Elle Purrier St. Pierre dominated this race, winning and setting a national record of 4:16.41.

St. Pierre is less than a year removed from giving birth to her son, Ivan.

“I’m just getting into good training and racing,” St. Pierre said. “It feels good to be back out there and see that I can still do things I was doing before I had a baby.”

She clearly trusted her fitness, as she sat comfortably behind Jessica Hull, who beat her in the 3000 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix last week, for just over 1200 meters before clocking a 61-second last quarter, leaving Hull in the dust. 

Still, Hull got the Australian national record with a 4:19.03 mark, and three more national records fell in the race: Kenya (Susan Ejore), Sweden (Yolanda Ngarambe), and Spain (Marta Perez). 

We don’t often see five national records fall in the same race, so perhaps we should use this as a model: get a bunch of really fast runners, put them in the same race, and let them take it out fast.

Women’s 2 Mile

And it’s Medina Eisa of Ethiopia, overtaking Laura Muir for the win! What a race! What a kick! I can’t believe…

Never mind, then. The crowd celebrated Eisa’s upset victory with thunderous cheers. Still, shortly after the race, it was revealed that she had cut into the inner lanes too early during the opening portion of the race and was, therefore, disqualified. Muir subsequently took the victory in 9:04.84. 

Muir said she saw Eisa cut in early, so she knew that she would be disqualified, but she didn’t let herself get distracted.

“To be honest, it didn’t affect me at all,” Muir said. “I had my plans for the race, and those were the only things I focused on. You can’t be distracted by other people.”

Muir made the late switch from the Wanamaker Mile to the 2 miles after she found out that her 8:34.49 performance in the 3000 meters last December would not be ratified by World Athletics, meaning she would not be able to qualify for the 3000 at the World Athletics Indoor Track & Field Championships in Glasgow this March. The 2 mile gave her a chance to get that qualifying mark, and she got it.

“It’s a really hard standard to hit, given that it’s a straight final,” Muir said. “I knew I needed a really good race to get it, but ultimately, I was in shape to do it.”

Ethiopian Melknat Wudu finished second in 9:07.12, while On Athletics Club’s Alicia Monson took third in 9:09.70, giving her a fourth American record. Monson dealt with COVID-19 earlier this year, and she has only recently returned to a normal training load. She said she plans to run the 10k at the TEN meet in California in March, and she’s hoping to better her American record and run under 30 minutes.

Nikki Hiltz, who hadn’t raced anything above a mile since 2019, took fourth place in 9:15.80. She will run the 1500 at the USATF Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, NM, next weekend.

Bonus Action

-High jump: reigning indoor and outdoor world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh cleared 2.00 meters, taking the win and breaking the meet and facility records. American Vashti Cunningham, a 13-time national champion, took second place with a jump of 1.97 meters.

–High school 4×200 meter relay: Montverde Academy (FL) set a meet record with a time of 1:34.78, keeping Bullis (MD) winless in the 4×200 on the day (they also took second in the boy’s race).

–High school mile: Samantha Humphries from Flower Mound, TX, took it out hard, clocking a 66-second first quarter, and she never gave up the lead, cruising to victory in 4:41.43 – nearly three seconds ahead of second place.