NEW YORK — Reigning world champion Donavan Brazier typically wins his 800-meter races with speed rather than strategy. So in the leadup to his race at the Millrose Games, one of the longest-running indoor track meets in the country, his coach told him to hang back a bit — to fall back to the middle of the pack, thereby forcing himself to find a way to the front.
So there was Brazier about halfway through Saturday's race, in fifth place, behind reigning NCAA champion Bryce Hoppel and far behind the leaders.
And there he was moments later, surging past the rest of the field in a 50-meter span en route to a new American indoor record of 1 minute, 44.