Wiley, 19, continues European tour after 1:57.64 effort in 800 in Switzerland by racing in Belgium in exceptional 1,500 field, looking to become only collegiate competitor and fifth U.S. female athlete to run sub-1:58 and sub-4:03 in her career

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photo by Getty Images

Following her 1:57.64 performance Monday at the Gala dei Castelli in Bellinzona, Switzerland, 19-year-old American distance runner Addy Wiley will make her Diamond League debut Friday competing in the 1,500 meters at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.

Wiley, who boasts a lifetime-best 4:03.22 in the 1,500 from June 3 at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tenn., is one of three U.S. competitors in the Brussels field, along with Cory McGee, the 10th-place finisher at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and Sinclaire Johnson.

In addition, more finalists from the World Championships – Ireland’s Ciara Mageean, Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir, Australia’s Jessica Hull, Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom and Great Britain’s Laura Muir, Katie Snowden and Melissa Courtney-Bryant – are also scheduled to compete.

Wiley, representing NAIA Huntington University in Indiana, already ranks No. 2 in collegiate history in the 1,500. Only three female competitors have ever run sub-4:03 on the collegiate all-dates list, Colorado’s Jenny Simpson, Washington’s Sophie O’Sullivan and Hull during her Oregon career.

Simpson boasts the collegiate record of 3:59.90 from the 2009 Prefontaine Classic.

Wiley is the only collegiate female athlete to run sub-1:58 and sub-4:04, in addition to being one of seven American competitors to achieve the feat. Wiley, who captured the NACAC Under-23 gold medal July 23 in the 1,500 by running 4:05.84 in San Jose, Costa Rica, is also the No. 2 all-dates collegiate performer in the 800.

Only a quartet of U.S. women’s distance runners – Mary Decker-Slaney, Kate Grace, Sage Hurta-Klecker and Brenda Martinez – have produced sub-1:58 and sub-4:03 performances during their careers.