11-Year-Old Jonah Gorevic Sets Sing-Age Mile Record With 4:51.85 At adidas Grand Prix

By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom
(c) 2015 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
June 14, 2015

Amidst all of the close races and heated competition at Saturday’s adidas Grand Prix, a world record somehow got lost in the shuffle.  Very early in the meeting, before any IAAF Diamond League races had been held on Icahn Stadium’s blue oval, 11-year-old Jonah Gorevic recorded a world single-age record in the mile, winning the Boys’ Youth Mile in 4:51.85.

Gorevic has been a force on the youth scene, winning multiple national titles both indoors and out. Last April, he took home national crowns in the 1500m and 3000m, and finished second in the 800m. A native of Rye, N.Y., Gorevic led wire to wire on Saturday, bringing the crowd to their feet as he shattered the previous world best of 4:55.

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Across the line, Gorevic celebrated with a smile and proudly held the winner’s bouquet of flowers. A year ago, Gorevic had run 5:01.55 to set a world record for 10 year olds at the meet. With another year’s experience, the sixth grader was confident he could set another personal best and take home the win on his favorite track.

Gorevic spent time speaking with members of the media following his victory, a smile never leaving his face. To learn more about the young star, Race Results Weekly has highlighted some fast facts about the newly minted world record holder.

– Name: Jonah Gorevic
– Age: 11 years old
– Hometown: Rye, N.Y.
– Track Club: Tailwind Track Club, Westchester, New York

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– Favorite Way to Race? Leading wire to wire. “You have to work for it,” he said.

– Key To Training? Coach Carl Curran. “My coach, he puts me through really good workouts for me, and it helps me get better. I don’t train too much, only three days a week.”

– Mid-Race Mindset? Focus on splits. “I have my coach telling me my splits so I’m sort of doing math in my head figuring what I need to do and I’m thinking ‘Are my legs tired? What do I think they are doing?'”

– Jonah’s Winning Splits: 400m, 1:06.93; 800m, 2:22.80; 1200m, 3:39.10; Mile: 4:51.85

– What is more meaningful, the 10-year-old or 11-year-old World Record? “I had four opportunities this year, three opportunities last year. More time this year, it feels better now because I hadn’t been able to get it for the past three [races].”

– Favorite Pre-Race Workout? “I did five 300’s at 90-percent on Tuesday. Going less and less so I have more energy built up for the race.”

– Aspiration: To become a professional runner and one day race on the IAAF Diamond League. “God I hope so!”

– Idols: Bernard Lagat, Usain Bolt, and David Rudisha.

– Next Race: Junior Olympic Trials 3000m on June 20 at Icahn Stadium. “Next week at the Junior Olympic Trials I’m going to try and break the 3000m world record for 11 year olds, so that’s my next goal. 9:36.”

– Good Luck Charm? “Icahn Stadium is awesome. It is my good luck charm.”

– Other Achievements: 3-time AAU Cross Country National Champion in the 11-12 Age Group; also plays soccer.

After Jonah’s record run, numerous athletes reacted to the news on social media. A picture of Gorevic breaking the finish tape drew more than 11,580 likes on Instagram and more than 73 retweets on Twitter. Among those to ‘Favorite’ Jonah’s accomplishment were Olympian Kara Goucher and Portland Track Festival 10,000m champion Emily Infeld.

The most noteworthy praise, however, came from mile world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj. The 3:43.13 miler and two-time Olympic gold medalist tweeted, “@ChrisLotsbom @RunnerSpace_com happy to welcome Jonah to the club of WR’s breakers.”

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