By Chris Chavez
January 25, 2022
We are just a few days away from the true start to the track and field season – the Millrose Games. This is the second stop on the World Athletics Indoor Tour’s gold schedule.
On the seven-meet circuit, athletes will be looking to snag some points in their respective disciplines (Women: 400m, 1500m, 60m hurdles, high jump, long jump | Men: 60m, 800m, 3000m/5000m, pole vault, triple jump, shot put) for the $10,000 grand prize and a wild card entry for the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in March.
Here’s a quick preview of the top athletes and storylines to watch in each women’s event. I’ll share my men’s preview on Thursday morning. At the very bottom, you’ll find TV and streaming information + a little surprise from The CITIUS MAG team.
Women’s 60m Hurdles – 2:39 p.m. ET
–This field is sneakily strong with last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials 100m hurdle first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers in Keni Harrison, Christina Clemons, Gabbi Cunningham, Anna Cockrell and Tonea Marshall. Harrison won the 2020 edition of the Millrose Games in 7.90s over Nia Ali (7.96). She has not lost a 60m hurdle race since taking second at the 2018 U.S. Indoor Championship and she’s currently the world leader with her 7.81 from a season opener at Clemson.
Women’s 60m Dash – 2:45 p.m. ET
– Two years ago, Mikiah Brisco (the 3x NCAA champion out of LSU) did not compete at the Millrose Games but was having one of her best seasons, which included a victory at the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque on Feb. 15, 2020 – just weeks before the world shut down. She’s hoping to pick things up where she left off and boasts the fastest personal best of the field with a 7.04 PB. However, she’ll face stiff competition from her training partner and 2021 Olympian Aleia Hobbs, who beat her in their season opener at the LSU Purple Tiger Invitational on Jan. 14. 200m Olympic bronze medalist Gabby Thomas was announced as the headliner for this field and is dropping down in distance for her first 60m race since Feb. 2019.
Women’s 3,000m – 3:04 p.m. ET
Three years ago, Alicia Monson entered this race the Millrose Games as a standout from the University of Wisconsin looking to hold her own against a few professionals and downed the field. In 2020, she returned and finished sixth.
As we unpacked on the most recent episode of The CITIUS MAG Podcast, the last two years have been excellent for her since signing with the On Athletics Club. She now sits at No. 4 (14:42.56) on the U.S. 5,000m all-time list and No. 13 (31:10.84) on the U.S. 10,000m all-time list. She finished third at the U.S. Olympic Trials to make her first Olympic team and then went on to take 13th in Tokyo. She just captured her first U.S. title with a victory at the USATF Cross Country Championships on Jan. 8 – which was also her first win as a pro runner. When I asked her who she thinks has the best kick at the end of a 10,000m race, she said she’d bet on herself thanks to that 3,000m speed that she has.
What 🇺🇸 runner has the best kick at the end of a 10K?
“I’d say in a foot race-kick/last 100m, I want to put money on myself obviously but I would love to see someone like @JosetteNorris run a 10K.” – @leashamonson of the @on_running Athletics Club
🎙 https://t.co/ZgHkHBCmdL pic.twitter.com/1LXZWHolxr
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) January 21, 2022
If there’s a race with Monson in it, there’s a chance Weini Kelati is also in it. They’ve raced head-to-head 12 times in their career and Kelati owns the 7–5 advantage. However, Monsoon has won the last two meetings. In the podcast episode, we talked a bit about this and how they both know each other’s race styles.
Rachel Schneider was just. 47 back of Monson in 2019 and can’t be overlooked after a 2021 campaign that included making her first Olympic team and running 14:52.04 for 5,000m.
NCAA cross country champion Whittni Orton has turned professional but will continue to train at BYU under coach Diljeet Taylor. This will be her professional debut after she ran unattached to a 15:09.47 personal best for 5,000m on Dec. 4 at Boston University.
Women’s Invitational 400m – 3:46 p.m.
Wadeline Jonathas is the returning champion from 2020 and has to be the favorite after running 50.03 last year and making the Tokyo Olympics semifinal. This is the first time we’re seeing Raevyn Rogers run an indoor 400m race since 2018.
Women’s Wanamaker Mile – 4:05 p.m.
This field was loaded from the first announcement that American record holder and U.S. Olympic Trials champion Elle Purrier St. Pierre was returning to defend her title against 2019 champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen, Australian Olympian Jessica Hull and a strong U.S. contingent that includes Josette Norris, Nikki Hiltz, Shannon Osika + Olympians Cory McGee and Heather MacLean (she was just a guest on ‘More Than Running’). Then, Athing Mu decided to move up from 800m to the mile.
Dropped my phone & said “Oh damn!” when I saw the news.@athiiing is stepping up to the mile at the @MillroseGames after running a 4:37.99 mile for her season opener at Texas A&M. Was originally slated to compete in the 800m. (h/t @jgault13)
Entries: https://t.co/y8EBHfBB7n pic.twitter.com/M6TjMLY6sa
— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) January 24, 2022
The 800m Olympic champion has just one professional mile on her resume and it was a super casual 4:37.99 to open her season at Texas A&M just two weekends ago. So yes, she has the slowest personal best of the field but no one else has 49.57 and 1:55.04 speed over 400m and 800m. I took a quick look at the World Athletics profile for every U.S. woman who has broken 50 seconds for the 400m and no one had a mile personal best. I’ll still have to look at the all-time world lists but by Saturday, I’d venture a guess that the sub-50 400m/sub-4:30 mile club is maybe just Athing Mu. This is a rare talent we’re witnessing so bask in her greatness.
It’s easy to focus on Mu in this race I’d still probably take Purrier’s experience in the event as a slight advantage but she knows she can’t leave this to a kick now. Purrier proved at the Olympic Trials that she can take a race from the gun and fared better in those rather than a sit-and-kick race (the exception being 2020 Millrose Games when she ran the 4:16.85 American record and out-kicked Klosterhalfen, who had been pushing the pace from so far out).
A lot depends on people’s race shape right now. The CITIUS MAG team learned of some spicy time trials that took place in Arizona last week so people are very fit right now and we could see a slew of personal bests.
Women’s 800m – 4:14 p.m.
The Ajee’ Wilson duel with Mu is no more but the indoor American record holder is still going to have her hands full with Natoya Goule, who finished second in their 2020 Millrose showdown. Goule made the Olympic final, which Wilson missed, and finished eighth.
High school stars Sophia Gorriaran and Roisin Willis will race a head-to-head 800m race for the first time since last summer’s Trials of Miles NYC Qualifier, where Willis ran 2:00.78 to win her heat.
Gorriaran and Willis have both raced against each other twice this month. Willis beat Gorriaran in both the 1,000m and 500m at a meet in Virginia Beach on Jan. 14. They will have a good shot at Sammy Watson’s 2:01.78 indoor high school record from 2017 and maybe even Mary Cain’s 1:59.51 all-time high school record from 2013?
HOW TO WATCH MILLROSE GAMES
Date: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022
Time: Races start as early as 10:25 a.m. ET but the main event with the professional and marquee races won’t start until 2:34 p.m.
Tickets: If you’re in the NYC area, you shouldn’t miss this meet. Get tickets here. There is an afterparty in the infield that also requires tickets.
Live Result, Schedule and Entries: You can find live results, start times and entries here.
TV: You can catch the main event and races on NBC between 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. Any race between 10:25 and 2:30 p.m. ET will not be televised and you’ll have to watch on USATF.TV and which require a RunnerSpace +PLUS subscription.
Live stream: You can watch online at nbcsports.com/live
Postrace show: We will be going live on the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel at the conclusion of the men’s Wanamaker mile. When all the action is done on the track, join us to analyze the best moments and catch some interviews with athletes who just competed.
That’s it from me today. As always, thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, learned something new or have any questions or commentary on anything featured in this issue, feel free to hit my inbox by replying or writing to chris@citiusmag.com
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Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.