Canberra track star Cameron Myers sets 3000m records as coach Lee Bobbin warns teen's best is yet to come

Myers, 16, turned heads last month at the Maurie Plant Classic in Melbourne when he became the second-youngest person to break the four-minute mile, behind current Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

On Saturday Myers secured more history at the Sydney Track Classic, this time in the 3000 metres, his time of 7:52.06 breaking the Australian under-18 and under-20 records.

His fifth-placed finish behind gold medallist Jude Thomas (7:48.25) backed up his bronze-winning 3:55.4 mile time that has since put his name in headlines worldwide.

Myers' coach Lee Bobbin knows the teenager is "special" but insists it hasn't happened by accident.

"It's been a long time coming. It's taken five years to get where he is and each year he has improved. He is special, but he's worked pretty hard to become special," Bobbin said.

Bobbin has known for a while Myers had the "it" factor, but even he didn't predict he'd be able to put together such strong back-to-back results.

"The time he ran in Sydney, I expected him to go sub-eight (minutes), but I didn't expect him to go that quick," Bobbin said.

"When you put him in a race he responds to it and likes to run with better runners. In the last part of every race he just seems able to kick into another gear and make a huge run to the line."

The task now is to keep that momentum rolling, Myers eyeing the Australian Track and Field Championships in Brisbane on March 30 and the open 1500m event.

Key to maintaining this upwards trajectory is for Myers to remain focused on continual improvement despite the increased hype surrounding his name of late, and the high schooler knows he's got more to give.

"Things are starting to happen. We're getting phone calls and emails from all over the world," Bobbin said.

"All I say to him is that, 'You're not there yet. You're on the way but the big goals are still ahead'. If we want to get there, we have to concentrate on what we've been doing, what works for us, stay injury-free and just keep doing the hard yards.

"I think he feels that running this quickly means that there's still more room for improvement, if he trains well and as he gets older.

READ MORE CANBERRA SPORT NEWS:

"The times are just a stepping stone for what's to come."

Also at the Sydney Track Classic, New Zealand-born St Edmund's College product Eddie Osei-Nketia contested the 100m sprint but fell just short of claiming gold.

The sprinter, who spent eight years in Canberra before choosing to represent his birth country, finished second behind Australia's 'flying mullet' Rohan Browning (10.14 seconds) with a time of 10.16s.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: