Nuguse

Photo by Joe Hale

Nuguse

Words Jeff Merrill

In Zurich, on a glistening rain-soaked track under the great wooden overhang of the Letzigrund-Stadion, Yared Nuguse overtook Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the final turn.

To make a blatantly obvious statement, it is very hard to win a professional race. Pros on the circuit lament this as they recall the routine nature of club level and collegiate victories that secured them their sponsorship contracts.

Those at the top often race sparingly to either rest themselves for championship bouts or to protect a sterling record. Like a hitting streak, a winning record can become consuming, creating an identity that needs protecting. It gets tough to keep your eye on the ball.

Nuguse has raced 30 times in the last 2 years at distances between 800m and 5,000m. He’s raced the bookend distances only once, each of those, although not against the best in the world, were wins. Nuguse is part of the On Athletics Club, an outfit that puts a premium on top placing in the sport’s marquee meetings from the Millrose Games to the Diamond League meets. Of the 30 races Nuguse has taken part in, he’s won 17 of them and achieved a podium finish 27 times. His lowest finish during this stretch was a 5th place result coming in the first round of the Olympics this year- a heat he only needed to come top 6 in order to advance. Without removing qualifying rounds where the objective of simply moving on takes precedence over the win, Nuguse has batted .560 in wins and .900 in podiums over the past 2 years. The only runner on the scene with a better record in as many races is the Norwegian icon.

The sport is a sufferfest. There is no denying the eventual pain that will come to greet you at some point in a distance race. The further up in the rankings you find yourself, the more difficult it can be to tolerate the amount of suffering it takes to soldier through for wins in regular season meets. This is the case for many sports. The fiery personalities we are drawn to are also drawn to the spotlight. There is a need to win, or a need to let audiences know who they are while they have their attention. Their identity is shaped by their maniacal desire to win in the biggest moments and by the fashion in which they do it. Their superpower is that the bright lights focus and feed them, they do not shrink from their glow. We eat it up. We want to see what they do and the ends to which they will go. It’s hard work to hold the world’s attention. But in this world of power hitters and runway royalty, spare a thought for quiet consistency.

“All of life is peaks and valleys. Don’t let the peaks get too high and the valleys get too low.” -John Wooden

Nuguse is interesting, brimming with talent and he wins. He has a pet tortoise and drives a yellow Mustang. He’s into Taylor Swift and Pokémon. By now, you likely know those things, but you wouldn’t, unless you asked him or found them at the bottom of an article. He is not the type to curate a persona defined by things he wants you to know he likes. He is him, and on the surface it appears like what others think is a fleeting concern.

He ran 42, 55, 55, 55 to beat the other top 4 1500m runners in the world in Zurich in a race many thought could tee up a world record. Whether they were rundown, deflated or the lights weren’t bright enough is irrelevant. Nuguse is consistently there at the front in races throughout the year. The more he races, the less mistakes he makes, and his practiced steadiness allows him to capitalize when those around him falter.

Some time from now, at a dental conference in Schaumburg, Illinois, someone will gesture at a slender, smiling figure across the hotel bar engaged in conversation decidedly about something that has nothing to do with track and whisper “that guy won Olympic bronze.” They may also mention that he beat the gold medal winner in a rematch in Zurich later that summer. By that point, consistency will likely have delivered more notable results, but it's unlikely those will be brought up in conversation by the man who achieved them.