Australian teen sensation Cameron Myers took down a world champion and nailed his second Olympic qualifier in a sparkling run on Thursday night.
The 17-year-old from Canberra, who last year became the world's fastest 16-year-old miler in history, continued his meteoric rise in a fiercely competitive men's 1500m race at the NSW Milers in Sydney's west.
Myers charged to victory in three minutes and 33.30 seconds (3:33.30), leading home Perth's Jesse Hunt (3:33.64) and Scotland's Jake Wightman (3:34.31), the winner of the men's 1500m at the 2022 world titles.
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Myers now owns the fastest time by an Australian on Australian soil, having beaten the mark of 3:33.99 set by training buddy Jye Edwards at the 2021 national championships.
Myers also ran the world's fastest 1500m time of 2024 at Thursday night's meet, held at The Crest Athletics Track in the Canterbury-Bankstown area.
The Nike-sponsored athlete finished just 0.04 of a second outside his personal best of 3:33.26, run at the Silesia Diamond League in July last year.
"That's pretty surreal," Myers told Wide World of Sports trackside.
"I'm not too worried about who I'm beating and whose scalp I'm getting; I'm just trying to run as fast as I can and get the wins, ultimately.
"I'm pretty fit and I'm a lot further down the track than some of the other guys, so I've got that race-specific fitness now, and it's just about carrying that momentum through the rest of the season."
Myers took the lead with about 300 metres remaining as he powered past Wightman. The Scottish world champion, Hunt and Edwards all fought doggedly on the home stretch, but Myers held them off as hundreds of spectators watched on, many from lane five or inside the track.
Myers flung his arms in the air as he burst across the finish line, before being swamped by kids screaming for his signature and a selfie on a glorious summer night.
The prodigious talent clocked 55.50 seconds for the final lap, ensuring he met the 3:33.50 Olympic entry standard.
Eleven of the runners broke 3:39 and eight broke 3:37, making for one of the deepest middle-distance races ever on Australian soil.
It was the second of two races for Wightman on his trip Down Under, after he was beaten by Australian Olympic finalist Stewart McSweyn at Melbourne's Maurie Plant Meet last week.
Wightman wanted to bag an Olympic qualifier on his trip to Australia, but will leave without one after posting 3:52.11 for the mile in Melbourne and 3:34.31 in Sydney.
The 29-year-old is on the road back from injury after fracturing his right foot in January last year.
"Not what I wanted it to be, to be fair," Wightman told Wide World of Sports at the track.
"It was a good opportunity to run quick.
"I kind of knew coming here that as soon as the pacers went out it would be me to try and take it, and I was willing to do that, but as soon as I had to hit the front I just didn't feel great, so I knew it was going to be a hard last lap. I needed to feel a bit fresher to kick on to make up the time I needed.
"It's just where I am at the moment."
Wightman admitted to having no answer for Myers' move with about 300 metres to go.
"He went well. That was the thing; the change of pace he had was just what I couldn't respond to very well, and then the two other lads [Hunt and Edwards] were great responding to it," Wightman said.
"Just not much I could do in that [situation] at the moment, which is frustrating, but at the same time it's a lot better situation than I was in last year where I wasn't running at all."
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