Yared Nuguse Join's The Athletes Lounge After 1500 Win at Diamond League Rabat 2026
Yared Nuguse reflects on his victory at the 2026 Diamond League meeting in Rabat, breaking down his race strategy, how the race unfolded, and what the performance means as he continues his season.
Video Transcript
I did.
Yared Nuguse, live on the show.
Winner of that men's 1500.
Yo.
Yared, oh, he's got the flowers.
They're great.
Nuguse.
Yared, how you feeling?
Feeling great.
No, you know, I really wanted to start off my outdoor season right, and I did just that, so feeling great.
You got a sum- you got a somersault in there.
That was killer, man.
Yared, how's Tyro?
Yeah, I was like He's doing good.
No, he, no, just hanging out at home.
My roommate's taking care of him, but he's enjoying the summer probably as much as I am now too.
Yared, you, y- you typically like to park it right behind pacers and just kind of let the race come to you and, but you, you really gave us a full lap of waiting to see where you were gonna put yourself into it.
So was that, was that strategy, or was that just kind of where, how it played out?
Yeah, that is something I wanted to do.
I think, you know, there will be other races where I just wanna take it from the front the whole time, but I kinda wanted to see if I could position myself well enough, wait, and only have to lead, like, 500 meters versus, like, the whole 1500. so it turned out just like I wanted it, except for that fall at the end, but- got it, so it's all good.
Yared- Do you, do you still have Do you think, do you think you still have an invite to the, the Josh Kerr Show in London after that?
I hope so.
I mean- Surely, surely he would be happy to have me there.
We'll see.
All right.
Hey, Ya- Yared Yared, there's, there's two kinds of athletes.
There's the kind that, that when new world, world athletic standards come out, they're like, "Oh, man, these are crazy," and there's ones that just go, "Uh, I, I don't care.
I don't care at all."
What, what type are you?
Probably the don't care type.
I'd run really as close to 330, and I know my ranking is plenty good enough even if I didn't run it, so not too worried about that, but also that's like a 2027 problem anyway, so yeah.
Ya- Yared, I, I, I, we were just talking about, you know, the, the end of last year.
You know, you're coming off an Olympic medal in '24, missed the world team.
We were cheering you on in Zurich- Yeah in the athletes' lounge, trying to, trying to will, will what we could to get you to, to Tokyo, and missed out on it.
So just what's it been like since that?
Even indoors, fourth, I think, at USAs in one of those races.
It's like, what's it been like to get to this point, to be winning these races, and be back showing people, "Hey, I'm still here.
Don't worry about me"?
No, yeah.
I think coming into this, that was really I wanted to show myself more than anything that, you know, I'm still the guy who r- like, bro- brought the Olympics in.
I know that I'm still really good even if I do have, like, a year that doesn't end how I want it to.
So I think starting this outdoor season and going to Stockholm and Oslo as well, it's just confidence factor and, you know, showing everyone else also that I'm still that confident guy, you know?
And, and not j- not just winning the race and running 330, but you beat the world champ, too, so throw that in there.
Yeah.
That's true.
Yep, yeah.
Was he in second?
I didn't know who was coming up on me then, I know.
He was.
He was second.
That's what I was actually gonna ask is- okay, the last 10 seconds of the race, you see the finish line.
Yes.
What exactly I know you could hear the crowd screaming, and you know that someone's coming for you.
What are you literally telling yourself that last, those last couple strides?
Yeah, it was just, like, a combination of just, like, half myself screaming like, "Go, go, go," The other half being like, "Yeah, but don't, like, die," like, you know- you gotta There's still a long way to go, you know?
Don't die.
And I think it's Don't die.
And I think when I got to, like, the very last thing, I was like, "Oh, he looks very next to me.
I gotta-" Now I got a nice little bruise on my hip, so.
There you go.
It'll be fun.
Heal it up.
Heal it up.
Well, before we let you go, we've been asking you all the questions.
Do you have any requests from Andy, who's, who you see in Boulder?
Anything he needs to have ready for you when you get back?
Oh, yeah, I think for, like, every Diamond League I win, I want, like, 100 Uncrustables in the gym.
Andy, can you make this- 'Cause we're not in the gym right now, and I want some.
Yeah, I think we can probably make that happen.
Okay.
Nice, nice.
Yared, congrats on the win.
We're excited to see you, and yeah, just keep ripping this season, and nice work.
Thank you, guys, and remember, running is fun.
Yay.
