He's the most prolific record breaker in Australian athletics, but his name isn't Gout Gout
He's Australian, he's a teenager, he was still a boy when he signed with a global sportswear giant, and he's the most prolific record breaker in Australian athletics ... but his name isn't Gout Gout.
His name is Cameron Myers, a 19-year-old middle-distance runner from Canberra, and he'll be going toe to toe with some of the world's best in the United States on Sunday morning (AEST).
Myers is set to line up in the prestigious Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in a field featuring American Cole Hocker — the reigning Olympic gold medallist in the metric mile — and a slew of other world-class runners.
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Myers' incredible record-breaking feats
It was clear Myers was something special when, at the age of 16, he ran a mile in three minutes, 55.44 seconds (3:55.44). That time, run at Melbourne's Maurie Plant Meet in February 2023, made him the fastest-ever 16-year-old miler in the world.
Since that night, he's run the fastest mile times in history for a 17-year-old, 18-year-old and 19-year-old, and claimed both the world under-20 mile and world under-20 indoor mile records.
He was wearing his modest Bankstown Sports Athletics Club singlet when he became the fastest-ever 16-year-old miler. Nowadays, he's breaking records in Nike kit. He was still only 17 when the sportswear juggernaut swooped.
Every world record, or world age best, Myers owns:
World records (three): under-20 indoor 1500m, under-20 mile, under-20 indoor mile
World age bests (nine): 1000m (18 years), 1500m (16 years), mile (16, 17, 18, 19 years), 3000m (16, 17, 18 years)
Prolific record breaker Cameron Myers, a 19-year-old from Canberra. Supplied
'Up there with the big boys'
In Myers' most recent race, a 1500m at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in the Czech Republic last week, he clocked 3:29.80. He smashed his personal best by almost three seconds, and became just the third Australian to break the 3:30 barrier, joining Oliver Hoare and Stewart McSweyn.
Shortly after the race, he limbered up again and completed a staple session of distance running: eight one-kilometre reps, each of them split up with a one-minute recovery.
"That's routine," his coach, Dick Telford, told Wide World of Sports.
"We've got to do that now; we're up there with the big boys."
Cameron Myers running at Melbourne's Maurie Plant Meet as a 16-year-old in 2023, and, on the right, celebrating a win at the meet as an 18-year-old and a Nike pro in 2025. Getty
A blistering Bowerman field
Twelve of the 16 runners set to contest the Bowerman Mile on Sunday morning (AEST) have dipped under the 3:50.00 barrier, including Myers and Hoare, Australia's joint record holders with a time of 3:47.48.
Among those in the field are Hocker — the reigning Olympic gold medallist in the 1500m — and fellow American Yared Nuguse, who won bronze in the metric mile in Paris last year.
"It's a great field, a great race always," James Templeton, Myers' agent, told Wide World of Sports.
"Cam is in great form. Importantly, he's feeling he's 'coming on' and has got more to come.
"We're excited about the mile for Cam. It will be a great test against some great athletes."
Running in green and gold
Myers has his sights set on the world championships, taking place from September 13-21 in Tokyo, where the rising star will be running the 1500m on his senior Australian debut.
He was the unlucky one in a 1500m Paris selection squeeze, losing out to Hoare, McSweyn and Adam Spencer.
Asked what his world championship hopes were for his young protégée, Telford replied with caution.
"I'm always a little bit conservative," the 80-year-old said.
"I've been around too long to make big predictions with people.
"I'm always conservative, and I think I do that to be a bit easier on myself sometimes."
At the world under-20 championships in Peru last year, Myers won silver in the 1500m.
Cameron Myers after winning silver in the 1500m at the world under-20 championships in Peru. Andrew Hilditch/Australian Athletics
What's the young lad like to coach?
"Like a lot of athletes that I know, and some that I've coached, he's driven," Telford said.
"I remember doing a radio interview at one stage and someone asked me, 'Is motivation an important part of your coaching?' And I said, 'Well, yes, it is; the athletes are the ones that motivate me all the time'.
"And Cam's just one of those athletes. He's right at the top of the tree in terms of motivation, understanding his sport, living his sport, and he's a professional runner now.
"And that's the difference between the champions and people who are good, but not champions."
