Nuguse was born to Ethiopian parents Alem Nuguse and Mana Berhe. His mother and father are originally from theTigray Region ofEthiopia; however, Nuguse's father fled the country in the 1980s as arefugee. At first, his father settled inArlington,Virginia, which is where he later met his wife.[6][7][8][9]
Nuguse is the fourth of six children. He has three older siblings and two younger twin siblings. Nuguse showed little interest in sports during his earlier years of high school and instead preferred to dedicate himself to his studies, science workshops, and bowling. Eventually, he took up running upon the recommendation of his physical education (P.E.) teacher Mick Motley, who was so impressed by Nuguse's running time in the one mile that he referred him to the school's track coach, Tim Holman. Nuguse then finally made the switch from being on the school's bowling team to track and field.[10][11][9][12]
Nuguse attendedDuPont Manual High School inLouisville, Kentucky, where he was a successful high school runner prior to attending theUniversity of Notre Dame. He planned on pursuing the necessary degree to attend dental school, wanting to eventually become an orthodontist, but put his dental career on hold to pursue professional running. He graduated in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and in 2022 with a master's degree in management.
On May 13, 2021, Nuguse set the NCAA 1500 meters record in a time of 3:34.68, which also met the Olympic standard.[14] At theNCAA Division I T&F Championships, he finished second toCole Hocker in a time of 3:35.60.[15] Nuguse qualified for the 1500 m at the postponed2020 Tokyo Olympics by finishing third at theU.S. Olympic Trials with his personal best time of 3:34.68, but did not participate in the Games due to a quad injury.[16]
On February 12, 2022, he broke the 18-year-old NCAA indoor 3000 meters record in a time of 7:38.13 at the BU Valentine Invitational.[17] Nuguse capped off his 2022 NCAA indoor season at the2022 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, where he anchored Notre Dame's Distance Medley Relay team to a second-place finish.[18] He also placed ninth in the 3000 meters.[19] Upon graduation in 2022, he joined theOn Athletics Club to compete professionally.[4]
On January 27, at theBoston University John Thomas Terrier Classic inBoston, the 23-year-old broke the North American indoor record in the 3000 m with a time of 7:28.24, slicing nearly two seconds offGalen Rupp’s mark set in February 2013. Nuguse's time was also faster than the 7:28.48 outdoor record, whichGrant Fisher set in 2022. With a quick 3:56.96 last 1600 m, he moved to ninth on the world indoor all-time list.[20]
On February 11, he ran the second-fastest indoor mile in history with a time of 3:47.38 at theMillrose Games in New York, smashing by more than two secondsBernard Lagat’s (who was a two-time world outdoor champion) 18-year-old North American indoor record of 3:49.98. Nuguse simultaneously also broke Lagat's indoor 1500 m record, which was set in the same race in 2005. He narrowly missed out onYomif Kejelcha's world indoor mile record of 3:47.01 and eclipsed by more than a second the best mark of famous multiple world record-holderHicham El Guerrouj. Nuguse covered 200 m segment from 1400 to 1600 m in a very fast 25.94 to beat a quality field and set the second-fastest North American mile ever, indoors or outdoors.[21][22][23]
On May 28, Nuguse finished second in the 1500 m at theRabatDiamond League in a new personal best of 3:33.02, narrowly losing to reigning Olympic champion,Jakob Ingebrigtsen.[24] On June 15, Nuguse finished third in the 1500 m at theBislett Games inOslo in a new personal best and then a North American outdoor record of 3:29.02, finishing behindJakob Ingebrigtsen andMohamed Katir.[25]
On September 16, at the 2023Prefontaine Classic/Diamond League final, Nuguse broke the American mile record in a time of 3:43.97 in his second-place finish toJakob Ingebrigtsen.[28] At the time, this was the fourth fastest performance in history.
On December 9,[29] Nuguse, in his first ever road race, won Honolulu's Kalakaua Merrie Mile, in a time of 3:56.58. Finishing second was Vincent Ciattei in 3:56.81, and third place went toHobbs Kessler in 3:57.12. Nuguse narrowly missed Kessler's world road mile record of 3:56.13.[30]
On January 26, at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic, Nuguse ran a personal best time of 13:02.09 in the men's 5000m Scarlet Heat, hitting theOlympic entry standard of 13:05.00.[31] He came in third place, behind fellow OAC athlete George Mills (12:58.68) and Under Armour Dark Sky Distance's Edwin Kurgat (12:57.52).[32] On February 11, Nuguse defended hisWanamaker Mile title at the116th Millrose Games with a time of 3:47.83.[33]
On April 27, Nuguse opened his outdoor season at thePenn Relays' Olympic Development Elite Mile. Winning in a time of 3:51.06, Nuguse broke the 50 year old Penn Relays mile record ofTony Waldrop, who ran 3:53.2 in 1974.[36]
In late May, Nuguse came third in the historic 2024Bowerman Mile at thePrefontaine Classic, in a season's best time of 3:46.22, behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:45.60) and Josh Kerr (3:45.34). Given the remarkable depth of the field, which included 2021 Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen, 2023 world champion Kerr, and 2022 world champion Jake Wightman, among others, this race was billed as the "Mile of the Century".[37][38]
On August 6, after passing one of the pre-race favoritesJakob Ingebrigtsen, Nuguse finished third in the 1500 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in a new personal best of 3:27.80, while Ingebrigtsen uncharacteristically finished fourth in a time of 3:28.24. Nuguse was just out-leaned, but nearly caught 2023 World ChampionJosh Kerr, who placed second in 3:27.79. Nuguse's compatriotCole Hocker won the gold in a new Olympic and North American area record of 3:27.65.[42] Ingebrigtsen led at a fast pace for most of the race, but in the final straightaway, was passed by Kerr. Ingebrigtsen ended up moving outwards, which gave Hocker, who is famous for his kick, a chance to pass Ingebrigtsen and eventually Kerr to win gold, while Nuguse passed a fading Ingebrigtsen to get bronze.[43] With Nuguse's bronze and Hocker's gold, the 2024 1500-meter final was the first time in 112 years that the United States won two medals in the event in the same Olympics. Furthermore, a third American,Hobbs Kessler, made it into and competed well in the final, finishing 5th in a personal best of 3:29.45. Eight years prior, at the 2016 Rio 1500-meter final, Matthew Centrowitz ended a 108-year gold medal "Olympic drought" in the event for the United States.[44] The race was highly anticipated given Ingebrigtsen's rivalry with Kerr, withWorld Athletics President and former middle-distance runnerSebastian Coe labeling it a "Race for the Ages".[45]
On September 1, Nuguse competed in the New Balance KO Meile in Düsseldorf, finishing in a time of 3:51.9 behindElliot Giles' new road mile world record of 3:51.3.[46]
On September 5, Nuguse won the 1500 meters at theWeltklasse Zürich meeting overJakob Ingebrigtsen, in a time of 3:29.21 to Ingebrigtsen's 3:29.52. Ingebrigtsen reported as being sick prior to the race after setting a 3000 m world record. Thewavelights were set to 3:26.73, but suboptimal weather & track conditions proved to be too much for a world lead or world record in the event for either Nuguse or Ingebrigtsen. Given Nuguse & Ingebrigtsen's presence, in addition to the other Olympic medalistsCole Hocker &Josh Kerr who finished third and fifth respectively, this race was billed as an "Olympic rematch" and the "metric mile of the century".[47][48][49][50][51] This was Ingebrigtsen's first Diamond League 1500 metres defeat in three years.[52]
On February 8, in theWanamaker Mile, Nuguse set a world record in the indoor mile, running a time of 3:46.63 to win his third Wanamaker title. This improved on the previous world record of Yomif Kejelcha, who ran 3:47.01 in 2019, making Nuguse the first to break 3:47 in the indoor mile distance. En route to the mile, Nuguse improved his area record in the short track 1500 meters, splitting 3:31.74.[53][54] He held the record for five days until February 13, when it was improved by Jakob Ingebrigtsen to 3:45.14.[55] Nuguse would later make an attempt to take back the world record from Ingebrigtsen atBoston University in March, falling 2.08 seconds short with a time of 3:47.22.[56]
During the2025 Grand Slam Track season, Nuguse competed in all three Slams in the Short Distance event group. He finished third overall in theKingston Slam, fourth overall in theMiami Slam, and sixth overall in thePhiladelphia Slam. At the Miami Slam, he set a new 800 meter personal best of 1:44.77.[57]
Nuguse acquired the nickname "The Goose", which is a play on his last name. The phrase "The Goose is loose" is often used when Nuguse succeeds in competitions.[63]
In March 2025, Nuguse announced his one-year anniversary with his boyfriend onInstagram.[64]
* Events before 1906 are considered unofficial. Distances have varied as follows: 2 Miles (1899–1931) and odd numbered years since 2015, 5000 meters (1933–1939), 3 Miles 1932, (1940–1986), and 3000 meters (1987–2014) and even numbered years since 2014
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