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'You’ve got to be brutal': Sam Ruthe learns fast after racing the best
Sport Nation • February 17th, 2026 12:24 pm
Sam Ruthe | Photo: Photosport
It's been quite the year for teen athlete phenom Sam Ruthe.
The 16-year-old Aucklander burst into the spotlight on the back of his record-setting feats on the track, most recently breaking Sir John Walker's mark for the fastest NZ mile as well as the world U-18 record for the indoor mile.
At Monday's Halberg Awards, those achievements were formally recognised, with Ruthe named the Emerging Talent of the Year, joining a long list of decorated winners that includes the likes of Lydia Ko.
While he wasn't on hand to accept his award, Ruthe admitted he was taken aback by the acknowledgement.
"It's honestly so awesome, you know, especially considering the people I've got in the past," Ruthe told Sport Nation on Tuesday.
"It just shows that I can go on into the future and keep achieving… it's such an honour to receive an award like that."
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Preventing him attending the ceremony in Auckland were his racing commitments in the US, where he recently put his skills to the test against defending Olympic champion Cole Hocker.
Ruthe ultimately came in 7th in the race, while Hocker accelerated clear of the field to set a new American record.
Nevertheless, it was a hugely valuable learning experience for the young Kiwi, who admitted the ruthless competitive environment of the US track - and the nature of the race itself - took some adjustment.
"It was way different to any New Zealand race because you don't really have much depth in New Zealand in terms of the quality of runners," he explained.
"The times for a field would be probably spread over 15 seconds while that US field was probably spread across 3 or 4 seconds.
"Everyone was so close together and when the gun went off I just went towards the back and thought I'd be able to slot myself in wherever I want myself to be, just because that's how it usually works in New Zealand. But I learned in that race, you know, you've got to be a bit more aggressive, you got to kind of just shove your way into where you want to be.
"It's more of a contact sport over here, you need to be more brutal with where you wanna place yourself."
Ruthe described some of the inherent privileges the Olympic champ Hocker was afforded prior to the race commencing, which proving he now has a target on his back - a situation he said he's very comfortable with.
"Obviously he's Olympic champ, so he got to basically make the starting list for the order on the start line.
"He positioned himself on the pole line, then his training partner next to him and he put me on the outside, just to make sure he had a slight advantage in that situation.
"I feel kind of honoured that everyone who I'm racing now is actually treating me as a competitor."
Listen to the full interview below:
