INDIANAPOLIS -- Bettering the world and American records in the men's 800*, Josh Hoey (Downington, PA/USATF Mid-Atlantic) earned recognition as the third USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2026.
Winner of the World Athletics Indoor Championships gold last year, Hoey broke one of the oldest world indoor records with his 1:42.50 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, taking down the 1:42.67 that was run by Denmark's Wilson Kipketer in 1997.
Hoey was paced through the first two laps of his record run by his brother, Jaxson, hitting 200 in 24.81 and 400 in 50.21. Alone at the front with two to go, he covered the third lap in 25.99 to go by 600 meters in 1:16.19 and then kept the pedal down to clock 26.31 on the final circuit to claim the record.
His time is the eighth fastest ever by an American indoors or outdoors and chopped .74 seconds off the indoor American record he set in winning the USATF Indoor Championships last February. Other top performances from last week:
Hobbs Kessler bettered the American record and set a world indoor best in the men's 2000 at the New Balance Grand Prix, running 4:48.79 to take 1.2 seconds off the previous world indoor best that was set in 2007 by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia.
Elle St. Pierre returned to the track for the first time since August 2024 to win the women's 3000 at the New Balance Grand Prix in 8:26.54, the fifth fastest time ever by an American. St. Pierre gave birth to her second child last May.
Cooper Lutkenhaus bettered the American U20 indoor record in the men's 800 with a 1:45.23 to win at the Sander Scorcher meet in New York City. * – World records subject to ratification by World Athletics. American records subject to verification by USATF Records Committee Now in its 25th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2026 Winners: January 15, Jonathan Simms; January 22, Michelle Rohl; January 29, Josh Hoey. We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.
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