Haftu Strintzos broke the Australian Marathon record and became the first Australian to win the Gold Coast Marathon in 20 years with a remarkable run on a clear and sunny Sunday morning.
Less than an hour later, Cameron Myers took a dominant victory in the men’s mile at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic in the USA – and became the overall national record holder in the process.
Haftou Strintzos has won the Gold Coast Marathon in record time. Casey Sims/Oceania Athletics
The clock read 2:06:20 as Strintzos completed the course to win the Gold Coast Marathon.
In a daring and pulsating dash to the finish line, the Ethiopian-born Australian could have broken Andy Buchanan’s national record.
He did it for two seconds.
Buchanan ran 2:06:22 at the 2024 Valencia Marathon to break Brett Robinson’s Australian record.
Robinson ran 2:07:31 at the 2022 Fukuoka Japan Marathon to break the record held by Robert de Castella, who has held the record since he ran 2:07:51 at the 1986 Boston Marathon.
Strintzos broke not only the Australian record, but also the course record, beating the 2:07:33 recorded by Japanese Yuki Takei last year.
Strintzos became the first Australian to win the Gold Coast Marathon since Lee Troop in 2006.
Between 2007 and 2025, the men’s titles were won by a Japanese, a Kenyan and an Ethiopian.
Strintzos collapsed on his back immediately after the finish line and put his hands on his head.
“The race was amazing and went really well,” he said.
“I knew I was in pretty good shape after running under 61 minutes in Launceston (half marathon) a few weeks ago.
“It was just a matter of showing up on the day and putting it on paper. It all came together for me today and I’m really happy about it.”
He said it was “amazing” to be the first Australian to win the Gold Coast Marathon since 2006.
“I’m excited to get the Australians back to where they belong and I’m really excited,” Strintzos said.
Less than an hour earlier on the famed Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, Myers demolished a tough field to win in 3:46.06.
Myers, who turned just 20 last month, was a comfortable winner against reigning Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hawker and Olympic silver medalists Yared Nuguse and Timothy Cheruiyot.
Canberran previously set a national mile record with Ollie Hoare, clocking 3:47.48 at the 2025 New York indoor race.
“I just ran as hard as I could. I think that gave me the best chance to win. So it worked out great,” Myers said.
“I feel like I’m counting down the clock so I’ll just focus on winning races and that’s the mentality I had today.”
Myers’ victory at the Prefontaine Classic, which doubles as the Eugene Diamond League, followed a victory in the 1,500 meters at the Paris Diamond League a few days earlier.
The young phenom will take on Cheruiyot and Britain’s Josh Kerr and Jake Whiteman, former world 1500m champions, over the mile at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.