Maia Ramsden shatters New Zealand outdoor Mile record
Maia Ramsden continues her momentous track season in fine form!
Racing in the Borås Folksam GP in Sweden, Ramsden finished second behind her On Athletics Club (OAC) teammate Olivia Markezich in 4:24.79. Christine Pfitzinger held the old outdoor record from 1987 of 4:30.50.
This result builds on a successful debut Olympic campaign, during which she lowered her own New Zealand 1500m record to 4:02.20 in the semi-finals.
The 22-year-old Harvard graduate recently moved from the NCAA to the professional circuit by signing with On and their OAC team based in Boulder, Colorado, USA. She joins fellow Kiwi and New Zealand men’s steeple chase record holder George Beamish as the only Kiwis on the team.
“We’re very excited to have Maia join our team in Boulder.” Says OAC Coach, Dathan Ritzenhein.
“We had a great chance to work with her transition over the summer before Paris. She’s joining one of the strongest women’s 1500m groups in the world and she led most of the race today. Her mile record was a great result off the emotional and physical efforts in Paris. After leading most of the race it shows her strength to keep going this late into the year.”
“We will see what the next week or two if a big race opportunity comes up but definitely she’ll have a nice break soon. She’ll go visit family in Wellington then work on moving full time to Boulder in 4-5 weeks. She has so much potential and we are looking forward to helping her continue to chase her dreams!”
Kim Smith still holds the overall New Zealand mile record, which she ran indoors. Her time of 4:24.14 from the Boston University Valentine Invitational on February 8, 2008, still holds on in front of the rapidly improving Ramsden.
Full results from the 2024 Borås Folksam GP in Sweden go here