Niels Laros

❧

Wikipedia

Niels Laros
Niels Laros during 2023 Gouden Spike
Personal information
Born (2005-04-17) 17 April 2005 (age 20)
Oosterhout, Netherlands
Sport
SportTrack and field, cross country
Event(s)
800 m, 1500 m, Mile, 2000 m, 3000 m, 5000 m
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • Outdoor:
  • 800 m: 1:44.19 (2025)
  • 1000 m: 2:14.37 (2024, WU20R, NR)
  • 1500 m: 3:29.20 (2025, NR)
  • Mile: 3:45.94 (2025, NR)
  • 2000 m: 4:49.68 (2023, AU20B, NR)
  • 3000 m: 7:48.25 (2022, NR)
  • 5000 m: 13:10.86 (2025)
  • Indoor:
  • 800 m: 1:47.16 (2024, NU20R)
  • 3000 m: 7:29.49 (2025, NR)
  • Road:
  • 5 km: 13:26 (2024, AU20B, NR)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Netherlands
Diamond League
First place2025 Zürich1500 m
European Games
Bronze medal – third place2023 Kraków-Małopolska1500 m
European Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place2024 AntalyaU20 race
Silver medal – second place2023 BrusselsU20 race
Silver medal – second place2024 AntalyaU20 Team
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place2025 Bergen800m
Gold medal – first place2025 Bergen5000m
European U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place2023 Jerusalem1500 m
Gold medal – first place2023 Jerusalem5000 m
European U18 Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 Jerusalem1500 m
Gold medal – first place2022 Jerusalem3000 m

Niels Laros (pronounced [nils laːˈrɔs]; born 17 April 2005) is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. He is the world under-20 record holder in the 1000 metres with a time of 2:14.39 set on 7 July 2024, the European under-20 record holder in the 1500 metres with a time of 3:29.54 set on 6 August 2024, and holds the Dutch record and European under-20 record in the mile, with times of 3:45.94 and 3:48.93 respectively.

He is the 2022 European Under-18 Champion in the 1500 metres and 3000 metres and the 2023 European Under-20 Champion in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres. He was European Athletics Rising Star of the Year in 2024.

Early and personal life

Niels Laros was born on 17 April 2005.[1] From Oosterhout, Laros' parents, Marcel Laros and Sandra Laros-Hofmans, were both runners. His brother Lars is a college athlete. He attended school at Oelbert Gymnasium in Oosterhout. He began to be coached by Tomasz Lewandowski in 2022.[2][3][4] He divided his final high school in two parts to allow him to participate in training camps with Lewandowski.[5]

Career

2022

In 2022, Laros set new U18 European 1500m and 3000m records which had previously been held by Jakob Ingebrigtsen.[6]

2023

In May 2023, he lowered the Dutch national junior record in the 5000 meters to 13.23.01.[7] In June 2023 running in Nice, aged eighteen, he equalled the 22 year-old Dutch 1500m national record of 3:32.89 held by Gert-Jan Liefers.[8] He was selected to represent the Netherlands in the men's 1500m at the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships.[9] He finished third in the event, behind winner Mohamed Katir.[10] Selected for the 1500m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, he qualified for the final, in which he ran a new national record time of 3:31.25.[11] In September 2023, he set a new national record of 3:48.93 in the mile, at the Diamond League final in Eugene, Oregon.[12]

2024

In February 2024, he set a new Dutch record and European U20 record for the 5km, running 13:26 on the road in Monaco.[13] In July 2024, he set a world under-20 record over 1000 metres of 2:14.37 in Hengelo.[14] He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics over 1500 metres and ran a personal best and European U20 record to place sixth in the final.[15]

He won the U20 race at the 2024 European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey in December 2024.[16][17]

2025

He set a Dutch record of 7:29.49 for the 3000 metres indoor in Liévin on 13 February 2025.[18] He won the 5000 metres competing for the Netherlands at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships First Division in Madrid on 29 June 2025.[19] On 5 July, he won the Bowerman Mile over Yared Nuguse in a Dutch record time of 3:45.94.[20]

He won the 5000 metres at the 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen, Norway in 13:44.74.[21] In qualifying for the final of the 800 metres at the championships he also set a new personal best of 1:44.19.[22]

On 22 August, at the Brussels Diamond League, Laros won the 1500 metres over Phanuel Koech and Yared Nuguse, in a time of 3:30.58.[23] He set a new Dutch record of 3:29.20 to win the 1500m at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on 28 August.[24]

He was selected for the Dutch team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, to compete over 1500 metres and 5000 metres.[25] He was a finalist over 1500 metres, placing fifth. He also competed in the 5000 metres but withdrew from the race with an injury.[26][27]

Personal bests

Information from his World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[1]

Personal best times
Event Time Location Date Record
800 metres 1:44.19Bergen, Norway18 July 2025
800 metres short track 1:47.16 iToruń, Poland6 February 2024NU20R
1000 metres 2:14.39Hengelo, Netherlands7 July 2024NR WU20R
1500 metres 3:29.20Zurich, Switzerland28 August 2025NR
Mile 3:45.94Eugene, United States5 July 2025NR
2000 metres 4:49.68Brussels, Belgium8 September 2023NR AU20B
3000 metres 7:29.49 iLiévin, France13 February 2025NR
3000 metres short track NR
5000 metres 13:10.86Nice, France31 May 2025
5 kilometres road 13:26Monaco City, Monaco11 February 2024NR AU20B

International competitions

Information from his World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[1]

Representing the  Netherlands
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventResultNotes
2022 European U18 Championships Jerusalem, Israel 1st 1500m 3:49.99 CR
1st 3000m 8:11.49
2023 European Team Championships First Division Chorzów, Poland 3rd 1500m 3:37.59
European U20 Championships Jerusalem, Israel 1st 1500m 3:56.78
1st 5000m 14:11.82
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 10th 1500m 3:31.25 NR
European Cross Country Championships Brussels, Belgium 2nd U20 race 16:10
2024 European Championships Rome, Italy 23rd (h) 800m 1:46.62
Olympic Games Paris, France 6th 1500m 3:29.54 NR
European Cross Country Championships Antalya, Turkey 1st U20 race 14:07
2025 European Indoor Championships Apeldoorn, Netherlands 11th 3000m 7:57.18
European Team Championships First Division Madrid, Spain 1st 5000m 13:44.45
European U23 Championships Bergen, Norway 1st 800m 1:44.36
1st 5000m 13:44.74
World Championships Tokyo, Japan 5th 1500m 3:34.52
25th (h) 5000 m DNF

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Niels Laros". World Athletics. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Geula, Alex (16 June 2023). "Meet Niels Laros, The 18-Year-Old Dutch Sensation Who Has Run 1:45.8 for 800m and 13:23 for 5,000m". Lets Run. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  3. ↑ Schelvis, Wouter (15 May 2022). "Loopbaan Niels Laros in stroomversnelling: 17-jarige tekent bij Nike, gaat naar Papendal en pakt record". bndestem.nl. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  4. ↑ Schelvis, Wouter (11 July 2021). "Niels Laros hoopt dat familie hem ziet schitteren op de 3000 meter tijdens jeugd-EK". bndestem.nl.
  5. ↑ "Rising Dutch Runner Niels Laros Sets New Middle-Distance Standards". Runnerstribe. 17 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  6. ↑ Dickinson, Marley (12 September 2022). "The 17-year-old Dutch runner who's quietly breaking Jakob Ingebrigtsen's junior records". Runningmagazine.ca. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Niels Laros breaks another record: 'But that's not what I'm doing it for'". bd.nl. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "18-year-old Niels Laros Equalls Dutch 1500m record with 3:32.89 in Nice". Watch Athletics. 18 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "Running talent Laros endures a pounding headache for top times". Welingelichtekringen. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "Men's 1500m Results - 2023 European Athletics Team Championships 1st Division". Watch Athletics. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Men's 1500m Results: World Athletics Championships 2023". Watch Athletics. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Henderson, Jason (16 September 2023). "Ingebrigtsen out-duels Nuguse at Diamond League final". World Athletics. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Fastest ever European U20 5km for Laros while Almgren blazes to 59:23 half marathon". European Athletics. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  14. ↑ "Schilder, Laros and Bol boost home pride in Hengelo". World Athletics. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  15. ↑ "Men's 1500m Results - Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics". Watch Athletics. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  16. ↑ "Ingebritsen wins euro cross country title". BBC Sport. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  17. ↑ "U20 favourites FitzGerald and Laros live up to expectations". European Athletics. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  18. ↑ "Ingebrigtsen smashes world indoor 1500m and mile records in Lievin". World Athletics. 13 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  19. ↑ Broadbent, Chris (29 June 2025). "Youngsters Laros and Mononen win thrilling distance races at Madrid 2025". Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  20. ↑ "A Big Underdog Comes Out of Nowhere to Steal the Show in the Men's Bowerman Mile". Runner's World. 5 July 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  21. ↑ Broadbent, Chris (19 July 2025). "Training partners Laros and Nillessen land Dutch distance double in Bergen". European Athletics. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  22. ↑ Mills, Steven (18 July 2025). "Pernici blazes to 1:44.06 championship record in 800m heats at Bergen 2025". European Athletics. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  23. ↑ Mills, Steven (22 August 2025). "Laros kicks to decisive 1500m victory in Brussels". www.european-athletics.com. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  24. ↑ "Big wins for Lyles and Weber, records for Warholm and Tinch as Diamond League Final concludes in Zurich". World Athletics. 28 August 2025. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  25. ↑ "53 TeamNL atleten naar WK atletiek in Tokio". Atletiek.nl. 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  26. ↑ "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  27. ↑ Henderson, Jason (19 September 2025). "NIELS LAROS LIMPS OUT OF 5000M HEAT". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 25 September 2025.