Sam Ruthe has entered the record books yet again by becoming the fastest 16-year-old to ever run the 1000m distance.

Competing on his home track at the Tauranga Twilight event, Ruthe completed the race in 2m 17.82s to break the under-16 and under-17 world records in the distance, while also shattering multiple New Zealand age grade records including the U20s and U19s.

His time was also within 1.2s of beating the national open record, which has been held since 1980 by John Walker when he ran 2m 16.57 in Norway.

His performance in Tauranga highlights his enormous potential as the previous U16 record was set in 1984 by Johan Boakes when he ran a 2m 20.37s, while the U17 record was 2m 18.70s set by Steffen Oehme.

Sam Ruthe and the other competitors at the Tauranga Twilight event. Photo / Supplied

James Ford previously held the New Zealand U19 of 2m 23.48s, set in Monaco in 2024, while the U20 record had been standing since 2007 when Carl Mackenzie ran 2m 22.00s in Wellington.

Frenchman Josué Le Cadre was second in Tauranga in a time of 2m 20.31s, while fellow countryman Felix Rivet was third in 2m 22.02s.

Ruthe has been in scintillating form over the past 12 months, highlighted by breaking two records at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships in Hastings.

He broke the 1500m record by eight seconds, previously held by Commonwealth Games runner Richard Potts since 1989, before setting a new benchmark in the 800m discipline.

Last March, aged 15, the Tauranga Boys’ College student became the youngest person to run a sub-four-minute mile, becoming the 49th New Zealander to break the milestone target in Auckland, in 3m 58.35s.