Niels Laros from the Netherlands took a last gasp victory over Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Yared Nuguse from the United States in the Bowerman Mile at the Eugene Diamond League on Saturday (5).
Laros ran a race which was timed to perfection, closing a 20 metre deficit on the last lap for victory over Nuguse by 0.01 in 3:45.94 to break Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s European U23 record of 3:46.46 and move to third on the European all-time list behind Ingebrigtsen (3:43.73) and reigning world 1500m champion Josh Kerr (3:45.34).
"Last year I ran a 3:49 mile when I fell at the start, so I knew I could be close to this kind of time but it's all about winning and that's what means the most," said Laros who was crowned European Athletics' 2024 Rising Star on the men's side at the Golden Tracks award ceremony.
In another race replete with depth which saw the top-13 finishers all break the 3:50-barrier, Azeddine Habz finished third in another French record of 3:46.65 while former world champion Jake Wightman - who struck 1500m gold on this track at the 2022 World Athletics Championships - continued his comeback from injury with a lifetime best of 3:47.82 in eighth.
This was Laros’ second notable victory within a week after winning a tactical 5000m for the Netherlands at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships in sweltering conditions in Madrid.
European record-holder Hudson-Smith wins the 400m
Olympic silver medallist and European record-holder Matthew Hudson-Smith ran a season's best of 44.10 to take the victory in the 400m ahead of world indoor champion Christopher Bailey who set a lifetime best of 44.15.
It was a good meeting for British sprinters as Zharnel Hughes finished second in the 100m in a European leading time of 9.91 in a race won by Jamaica's Kishane Thompson in 9.85.
Armand Duplantis cleared 6.00m in the pole vault to extend his unbeaten streak before attacking a world record height of 6.29m, a height which proved just behind the Swede on this occasion.
Fellow world record-holder Mykolas Alekna was in victorious form in the discus, breaking the 70 metre-line on two occasions - 70.97m and 70.64m in the second and fifth round respectively - for victory over a field including world champion Daniel Stahl and Olympic champion Roje Stona in third and fourth respectively.
Reigning European champion Malaika Mihambo looked on the cusp of victory in the long jump after setting the standard with 7.01m but the German was overhauled in the sixth round by Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall with 7.07m, equalling Mihambo's world lead set during the indoor season.