Sam Ruthe (born 12 April 2009) is a New Zealand middle- and long-distance runner. In 2025 he became New Zealand national senior men's champion over 1500 metres and 3000 metres.[1][2]
Early and personal life
From Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region, his parents Ben and Jesse Ruthe are both champion runners in New Zealand.[3][4][5] His grandparents Trevor Wright and Rosemary Wright (nee Stirling) competed at the Olympics and Rosemary was a Commonwealth Games gold medallist for Scotland in the 800m in Edinburgh in 1970, and Trevor won a silver medal in the 1971 European marathon championship.[6][7]
Career
Ruthe trains under Craig Kirkwood in New Zealand in a group that includes Sam Tanner.[8]
2024
In November 2024 he set a 3000m time of 8:09.68 in Auckland which broke the New Zealand under-17 and under-18 records and beat the previous world best time recorded by a 15-year-old over the distance by more than a second, set in 2022 by Japan’s Yota Mashiko.[9]
2025
In January 2025, at the Cooks Garden meet in Whanganui, he ran a time of 4:01.72 for the mile, which was reported to be 3.7 seconds quicker than the known world best for his age.[4][5]
In February 2025, and still 15 years-old, he won the men’s 3000m at the Potts Classic meet in Hastings, New Zealand, in a personal best time of 7:56.18, also a world best for his age. He became the youngest national champion in New Zealand athletics history, beating the previous best by a man, Dave Norris, who was 17 when he won the triple jump in 1957, and the overall youngest by Karen Whimp, who was a few days older than Ruthe when she won the high jump in 1976.[5][10][11] That month, he ran 3:41.25 to beat Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s world age-15 best over 1500m, at the Sir Graeme Douglas International in Auckland on 9 February, over a second quicker than the 3:42.44 Ingebrigtsen recorded at the Bislett Games in 2016.[12]
In March 2025 Ruthe won the New Zealand national senior men's 1500m title at Dunedin's Caledonian Ground, finishing first in a dead heat with Sam Tanner in a time of 3:44.31.[1]
References
- ^ a b Miles, Penny (9 March 2025). "Photo finish! Teenager and Olympian come up in dead heat at championships". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
- ^ "Sam Ruthe". World Athletics. 2 February 2025.
- ^ White, Peter (12 April 2015). "Half Marathon: Husband, wife take title honours". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
- ^ a b Laing, Doug (31 January 2025). "World's best teen runner to race against the men in Hastings". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
- ^ a b c "Kiwi runner Sam Ruthe becomes youngest man to win national senior athletics title". NZ Herald. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
- ^ "Tauranga runner Sam Ruthe, 15, sets world's best 3000m time in his age group". stuff.co.nz. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
- ^ "Sam Ruthe, 15, catches a 3:49 miler Sam Tanner on the line". Athletics Weekly. 10 March 2025. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
- ^ "Sam Ruthe, 15, shatters world middle-distance bests". Athletics Weekly. 3 February 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ "15-Year-Old Sam Ruthe Smashes NZ U17 and U18 3000m Records". Athletics.org.nz. 22 November 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
- ^ "Sam Ruthe youngest man ever to win national senior athletics title". rnz.co.nz. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ "15-yr-old youngest to win national senior athletics title". Otago Daily Times. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
- ^ Adams, Tim (10 February 2025). "Sam Ruthe improves Jakob Ingebrigtsen's world age 15 best over 1500m". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
You must be logged in to post a comment.