EXCLUSIVE: Agent of Cameron Myers sledges Australian Athletics selection chair after young gun's record-breaking stunner
The agent of teen running prodigy Cameron Myers has fired a spicy dig at Australian Athletics' chairman of selectors after his protégé broke the under-20 world record for the mile in the US on Sunday (AEDT).
Myers clocked 3:47.48 in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, an indoor event in New York City, to shatter the outright under-20 world record — not just indoor — set by Kenyan Reynold Cheruiyot, who had posted 3:48.06 in 2023.
The race was won by American Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse who scorched through the eight laps of the 200m track in 3:46.43 to set a new indoor mile world record.
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Myers' run of 3:47.48 catapulted him to fourth on the all-time list for world indoor mile times — and that's out of men of all ages, not just under-20 athletes.
He is still only 18.
Myers also nailed his first qualifier for September's Tokyo world championships, where he is expected to make his senior Australian debut.
He finished third in the Wanamaker Mile, and the only two who beat him were Nuguse, who won bronze in the 1500m at the Paris Olympics, and another American in Hobbs Kessler (3:46.90), who took fifth in the metric mile in France.
Cameron Myers in New York City. Supplied
Myers' manager, James Templeton, had some choice words for Peter Hamilton, Australian Athletics' (AA) chairman of selectors, following the race.
"Isn't it amazing what Cam just did in America. To come third in such a high-quality field and run the fourth-fastest indoor mile time ever is simply incredible," Templeton told Wide World of Sports.
"It's just the start; I'm very confident there's a lot more to come.
"He's going so well even Peter Hamilton will have to pick him this year."
Wide World of Sports requested comment from AA.
The background story to Templeton's sledge is that AA's selection panel, which for Paris 2024 included Hamilton and five others, opted against selecting Myers in the 1500m for the Olympics.
Cameron Myers (right) and his manager, James Templeton. Supplied
Myers, Oliver Hoare, Stewart McSweyn and Adam Spencer were all qualified for selection, but only three spots were available and the latter three were picked.
Hoare, McSweyn and Spencer all bowed out in the repechage round of the 1500m at the Paris Games.
McSweyn contested two events in Paris: the 1500m and the 5000m, in which he reached the final.
Hoare, McSweyn and Spencer all registered faster 1500m qualifying times than Myers, and finished ahead of him at the 2024 national championships.
However, some in the athletics fraternity believe that Myers, being such a young and prodigious talent, should have been blooded in Paris. He is rated by astute judges as a genuine chance of medalling in the 1500m at the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
In addition to smashing the under-20 mile world record on Sunday (AEDT), Myers' time of 3:47.48 broke Hoare's open Australian indoor mile record (the 3:50.83 he posted in 2022), and equalled Hoare's open national mile record (the 3:47.48 also registered in 2022).
Myers was confident ahead of the race that he could qualify for the 1500m for September's world championships, which required running 3:50.00 or quicker, and the Nike-sponsored prodigy ultimately obliterated the barrier.
Cameron Myers in action at the Adelaide Invitational in February 2024. Athletics Australia
"I knew I had a big one in me. I was thinking 3:48 or 3:49; that'd be great. So I was super pleased," Myers told media at the venue.
"My coach [Dick Telford] said, 'You're good enough to hang with anyone in the world for 1400 metres, so deal with that when it comes'. I managed to have a little bit left in the end.
"It was just one of those race situations that pans out perfectly."
Just before Myers' record-breaking run in the mile on Sunday (AEDT), fellow Australian Ky Robinson clocked 7:30.38 over 3000m at the same meet to take down the precocious teen's national indoor 3000m record.
Myers last week clocked 7:33.12 in the 3000m at Boston's New Balance Indoor Grand Prix to break the national record held by Craig Mottram.
Robinson finished fourth in a race won by American Grant Fisher, who clocked 7:22.91 to shatter the 3000m indoor world record.
