Paris Olympians Shine In First Major Pro Meet Of 2025 As Gold Medalists Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin, Masai Russell, Grant Holloway And Julien Alfred All Win

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photos

INTERVIEWS

BOSTON - Josh Hoey solidified himself as a top contender in the American mid-distance scene by winning the 1,500 meters at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Sunday, beating Olympic double-medalist Grant Fisher, Oliver Hoare and several other pros.

Hoey’s time was 3:33.66, a world lead and personal best. He said he deviated from his typical race strategy, which has been to start conservatively and close fast.

“All of (my 1500 meter races) have been about coming back hard,” Hoey said. “It was a new feeling, having the confidence to say, ‘Hey, I gotta stick at the front.”’

Fisher, the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist in the 5,000 and 10,000, finished second in 3:33.99. He said he’s trying to build some speed this season, which he believes will help him in the longer events.

“Last year, I was working on being able to get to a lap to go comfortably and have gears to use over that last lap,” Fisher said. “I kicked my way into bronze both times. Next time, I’m hoping I can get to a lap to go feeling good and have even more gears to give.”

Hoare ran 3:34.91 for third, followed by Great Britain’s Tom Keen in 3:35.12. Olympian Graham Blanks made his professional debut in the race, finishing fifth in 3:36.11. Blanks is still a Harvard student and is still training under coach Alex Gibby, and he said his day-to-day schedule hasn’t changed much since turning pro. 

The men's 1,500 was one of several high-caliber events Sunday. Here is the rest of the action, divided by event group:

Distance

The New Balance women made the most of their de facto home meet, recording wins in the mile and 3,000 meters. Heather MacLean took the mile in a meet record and personal best time of 4:23.15, while Melissa Courtney-Bryant o Great Britain also set a PB, as well as a new world lead, in the 3,000 with a time of 8:28.69.

Courtney-Bryant sat behind Elise Cranny, an Olympian in the 5,000 meters, for most of the race and then delivered a blistering kick, closing her last 200 in 31.62 and beating Cranny by over a second.

Courtney-Bryant said her race plan was about “having no fear.”

“I knew what I was capable of,” Courtney-Bryant said. “My sessions the last few months have been PB sessions, and I knew if I put it together on race day, (I could) go out and do what I've been doing in training and do what my coaches say I can do.”

Meanwhile, high school senior Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura CA took seventh in the mile in 4:29.34, a No. 2 all-time high school indoor performance that sits just over a second behind Mary Cain’s 4:28.25 from 2013.

Engelhardt is running unattached this season, which means she will not run in any California high school meets, instead opting to run unattached in professional meets. She is not the first California standout to take this route. Just two years ago, Newbury Park’s Lex and Leo Young ran unattached for their senior track seasons. Engelhardt said that CIF rules that prevent her from seeking opportunities to compete against pros during the high school season was a factor in her decision.

“It definitely was CIF,” Engelhardt said. “I think they probably need to change that rule. They're losing a lot of great athletes.”

Like the women’s 3,000, the men’s 3,000 delivered a new world lead and also three national records, led by Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran, who made a move with about three laps to go and held on for the win, breaking the tape in 7:30.75.

France’s Azzedine Habz took second and set a French record with his time of 7:31.50, followed by 18-year-old Cameron Myers, who ran 7:33.12 for an Australian record.

Myers has been blazing through his first ever indoor campaign; last week, he shattered the U20 world record in the indoor mile, running 3:53.12 for the win at the Dr. Sander Scorcher Invitational in New York. Next week, he is headed back to the Big Apple to face up against Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games.

In the men’s 800, Bryce Hoppel made a decisive move after three tactical laps, closing in 26.64 seconds and easily taking the win. Hoppel has won the last six U.S. 800 meter titles (counting indoor and outdoor), and he said he will defend that streak this year, but he will not run at the World Indoor Championships if he qualifies.

“It’s a tough decision,” Hoppel said. “It’s tough coming off of the Olympics, and you want to take as much downtime and recovery as you can. I think the ultimate goal is to do everything that we can to get the medals when we get to Tokyo.”

Paige Sheppard, a sophomore at Union Catholic NJ, won the junior girls mile with a massive comeback, throwing down a 68 in the last quarter mile to close a four-second gap on Montgomery CA's Hanne Thomsen. Sheppard said even as the gap between her and Thomsen grew, she trusted that she was going to outkick her.

“My word for this year is ‘guts,’” Sheppard said. “That’s what it takes to win races that are tough, where you’re going up against the top girls in the nation and internationally. You just have to believe in yourself, believe in what you’re doing, and hope that it pays off.”

Elliot Vermeulen, a Belgian student, won the junior boys mile in a meet record time of 4:00.48. His win was similar to Sheppard’s: heading into the last lap, it looked like Mercer Island WA's Owen Powell was going to run away with it, but Vermeulen clocked a 57 for his last quarter mile, winning by about half a second.

Josiah Tostenson of Crater OR edged out TJ Hansen from Freeland MI for third, 4:03.85 to 4:03.87. 

Sprints and Hurdles

Olympic Games 100 meters champion Noah Lyles opened (and potentially closed) his 2025 indoor season with his fourth straight win at this meet in the 60 meters. He said this would likely be his last performance until the outdoor season.

“I don’t really see a reason to keep going,” Lyles said. “There’s a lot of track to be run later in the season, so I just wanted to make sure I came out here. I was able to put together a great start, a great acceleration, and a finish like Noah Lyles.”

Lyles also called out NFL wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who challenged him to a race last year, in his post-race interview, writing “Tyreek could never” on his bib.

Meanwhile, the women’s Olympic 100-meter champion, Julien Alfred took a step up in distance and won the women’s 300 meters with a time of 36.16, a St. Lucian national record. Alfred said she wanted to go faster, but claiming the record still meant a lot to her.

Olympic 4x400 gold medalist Quincy Wilson of Bullis MD, who recently turned 17, lowered his own high school national indoor record in the 400 meters to 45.66, taking the win and beating former NCAA 800 meters champion Will Sumner and fellow Olympian Jereem Richards.

Continuing the theme, the Olympic 110-meter and 100-meter hurdles champions, Grant Holloway and Masai Russell, won their 60-meter hurdle races.

Holloway, who is now 64-for-64 lifetime in indoor hurdle races, said he developed a slight “post-Olympic slump” after Paris, admitting that he “wasn’t himself” in his next few races, but he said he has regained his motivation and is focused on continuing his legacy.

Rai Benjamin, who took gold in the 400-meter hurdles last summer, won the men’s 300 meters in 32.21. Benjamin said he wasn’t even supposed to be racing this weekend — he had originally planned to be here to record an episode of his “Beyond the Records” podcast with Holloway and Lyles — but his agent convinced him to run an event.

Raevyn Rogers took the win in the women’s 500 meters in convincing fashion, taking the lead early on and lengthening it in the final lap to come through the line in 1:08.98. Rogers switched coaches this year and is now training under Joanna Hayes, the new UCLA head coach. Hayes leads a more speed-oriented group, and Rogers, who mostly runs the 800 meters, said she may step down and try the 400 a bit more often this season.

Jacious Sears, who recently turned pro, won the women’s 60 meters with a time of 7.15. She sustained an injury towards the end of last outdoor season that prevented her from competing at the NCAA Championships, but she said the recovery process was valuable.

“I learned to communicate better with my coaches about how I feel and to stay on top of rehab,” Sears said.

Field events

Vernon Turner won the only men’s field event of the day, the high jump, over Romaine Beckford and Luis Castro Rivera after all three cleared 7-2.25. Turner won with the least amount of misses. Going into this year, he changed coaches and got a dietician, and he says he has noticed those changes paying off already.

“I’m sleeping a lot better, I’m stronger, I’ve seen my BMI go down 10 percent already,” Turner said. “I’ve lost, like, 15 pounds since the end of last season. These are things that ultimately can help a high jump.”

Jasmine Moore, the Olympic bronze medalist in the long and triple jump last summer, won the women’s triple jump with a mark of 45-7, narrowly beating Cameroon’s Anne-Suzanna Fosther-Katta.