Emily Mackay breaks 4-minute barrier in 1500m in Meeting de Marseille, becomes only the 13th American woman to do so

American athlete Emily Mackay has broken the four-minute barrier in the 1500m event. She achieved this feat at the 2023 Meeting de Marseille held on June 17 in Marseille.

Competing in the women's 1500m at the 2023 Meeting de Marseille, Emily Mackay started in 11th position. She began the race with a personal best time of 4:01.52. Mackay reached third place around 36s. And she steadily maintained her pace to stay in third position.

During the end of the second lap, Mackay was able to take the second spot. Nearing the end of the third lap, the American athlete moved into first place.

And Mackay wasn't backing down either. This was evident by the huge gap she created between herself and the other runners during the final lap. Toward the end of 1500m, the question was whether Mackay could break the four-minute barrier, and the answer was yes.

Emily Mackay clocked a time of 3:59.99 to clinch the women's 1500m title at the 2023 Meeting de Marseille. According to athle-liveresults.fr, this time is a meet record. And also a personal best for Mackay. This achievement makes her the 13th American woman to break 4:00 in the 1500m and the first woman to do so in 2023, as per Jonathan Gault.

Apart from Mackay, two other American athletes also competed in the women's1500m final at the 2023 Meeting de Marseille — Helen Schlachtenhaufen and Kristie Schoffield. While Schlachtenhaufen finished in third place (4:03.48), e Schoffield finished fifth (4:10.12).

The 1500m finals and other events at the 2023 Meeting de Marseille can be rewatched on the Facebook account of European Athletics as they live streamed the Meeting de Marseille.

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Who are the other 12 American women to run the 1500m with sub-4 time apart from Emily Mackay?

Emily Mackay has become the 13th American woman to run sub-four in the 1500m but who are the other 12 American women to achieve this feat?

According to Chris Chavez, the other 12 American female athletes to break the four-minute barrier in 1500m are:

1. Mary Decker ‘83
2. Suzy Favor-Hamilton ‘98
3. Jenny Simpson ‘09
4. Anna Willard ‘09
5. Christin Wurth-Thomas ‘09
6. Shannon Rowbury ‘14
7. Shelby Houlihan ‘18
8. Elle Purrier ‘21
9. Josette Norris ‘21
10. Sinclaire Johnson ‘22
11. Heather MacLean ‘22
12. Elise Cranny ‘22

While Mary Decker, Suzy Favor-Hamilton, Anna Willard and Christin Wurth-Thomas have retired, Shannon Rowbury is out with a stress fracture. The remaining runners in the above list are still active.

Elise Cranny, who recently won the 5000m and 10,000m events at the 2023 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, didn't compete in the 1500m events but her name was present in the start list. Emily Mackay also competed in the 1500m finals at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships but finished in eighth place.