Teenage middle-distance prodigy Sam Ruthe continued his rapid rise by breaking his own New Zealand junior 800 metres record at the Potts Classic in Hastings, holding off Olympian and training partner Sam Tanner in a high-quality duel.
The 16-year-old surged clear with 200 metres to run and, despite a late challenge, crossed in 1:45.86, almost a second faster than the record he set at the same venue at last month’s national secondary schools championships.
Tanner also delivered a personal best, clocking 1:45.94, while Ruthe’s time lifts him to seventh on the New Zealand all-time list.
The race marked Ruthe’s first win over Tanner, who had helped pace him to a sub-four-minute mile last year when Ruthe became the youngest ever to achieve the feat, and comes just two weeks after the pair shared the national 1500m title. They are set to meet again in the mile at Whanganui’s Cooks Gardens next week.
