Plourde, Lumb, Philibert-Thiboutot run personal bests for Canada at Millrose Games

Two world records went down, a pair of Canadians ran personal-best times and their teammate, sprinter Andre De Grasse, lowered his season best in the 60 metres at the 116th Millrose Games indoor track and field meet on Sunday in New York.

Montreal's Simone Plourde delivered perhaps the most surprising performance by a Canadian, knocking nearly 18 seconds off her PB in the women's Wanamaker Mile.

She finished seventh in four minutes 24.67 seconds, well ahead of her previous best of 4:42.05 from Jan. 24, 2020 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston.

Plourde, 23, now ranks third all-time among Canadian women, behind Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (4:19.73) and her sister, Lucia Stafford (4:22.72). Stafford was ninth of 11 finishers in Sunday's race in 4:24.92.

Plourde didn't begin training seriously as a runner until 2018 but had success early in her career. The Former Utah All-American had several memorable moments during her NCAA career and last year ran an impressive 4:09.48 to win and qualify for NCAA regionals, and 4:10.04 outdoors at the Drake Relays, finishing second to reigning U.S. 1,500 champion Nikki Hiltz.

Plourde went on to win the event at the Harry Jerome Classic in Langley, B.C., was second at nationals and placed 10th in her heat in Budapest, Hungary at her first World Athletics Championships.

World indoor silver medallist and new mother Elle St Pierre captured her third title Sunday, lowering her American record to 4:16.41.

Lumb inches closer to Ahmed mark

Kieran Lumb continued his early-season success with a PB on Sunday, placing sixth in the men's two-mile race in 8:14.52, over seven seconds faster than his Feb. 13, 2021 effort at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

It was also within 1.5 seconds of Moh Ahmed's 2017 Canadian record of 8:13.16.

A week ago, Lumb finished less than a second shy of his 1,500 PB in 3:37.75 at this year's event. He also posted a 13:16.59 indoor PB in the 5,000 last month at Boston University.

Quebec City's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot set his second PB in a week with a 3:53.12 showing for seventh in the men's Wanamaker Mile.

De Grasse runs fastest race of 2024

The 33-year-old also set a PB (7:41.12) in the 3,000 on Feb. 4 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, De Grasse ran his fastest race of 2024, clocking 6.62 seconds in the 60 to place eighth in the nine-man field.

The Markham, Ont., native, who hadn't raced the distance at Millrose since 2016, was sixth (6.66) in his first indoor race since 2021 on Jan. 27 in Kazakhstan.

World record-holder Christian Coleman won his third consecutive 60 at Millrose in his season-opener, reaching the line in 6.51.

In another Canadian result, Toronto sprinter Crystal Emmanuel was 7th (7:37) in the women's 60. Saint Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred won in 6.99, a season world lead and meet record. Gail Devers held the previous mark of 7.00 from 1994.

Charlton, Kerr shatter world indoor records

Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas broke the world mark in the 60 hurdles while Britain's Josh Kerr crushed compatriot Mo Farah's record in the men's two-mile competition.

Charlton clocked 7.67 seconds in the hurdles to shave 1-100th off the previous world record set by Susanna Kallur 16 years ago.

Two-time world champion Danielle Williams was second in 7.79, while Tia Jones, who had the same time as Williams, was given third place.

Kerr, the gold medallist in the outdoor 1,500 at last year's worlds, had said in recent weeks he was taking aim at the record.

The Olympic bronze medallist, who was spotted taking the New York subway to the meeting, ran 8:00.67 to break the previous mark of 8:03.40 set by British running great Farah in 2015 and pointed a triumphant finger in the air just before the finish line.

Canadian-born Fisher breaks U.S. record

Calgary-born Grant Fisher, who grew up in Grand Blanc, Mich., broke the American record in finishing second in 8:03.62. He is also the U.S. record-holder in the 5,000 and 10,000.

Laura Muir, who recently made a change to the two-mile event at Millrose from the mile, set a British record of 9:04.84.

On Saturday, Canadian race walker Evan Dunfee won for the second time in as many races this season, clocking 1:19.23 at the Australian and Oceania 20-kilometre championships.

The Richmond, B.C., native led Kyle Swan of Australia through 10K, with the pair crossing the halfway mark in 39:49.

"Really solid 20km today," Dunfee wrote to his X account. "Second fastest time ever, first international 20 km win, and will move up to 4th [from sixth] on the world rankings."

Dunfee opened his competitive season by setting a Canadian and North American record in the 10,000-metre event in Canberra, Australia.