Sam Tanner
New Zealand athlete
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Tanner (born 24 August 2000)[1] is a New Zealand middle- and long-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is Māori; his iwi affiliation is Ngāpuhi.[2] Tanner is the New Zealand indoor record holder for the 1500 metres.
.jpg)
Sam Tanner in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 August 2000 Papamoa, New Zealand |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 56 kg (123 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Sport | Track and field |
Event(s) | Middle-, long-distance running |
Career
A former surfer, Tanner set a national indoor 1500 metres record of 3:34.74 in February 2020 to secure the automatic Olympic qualification mark in Staten Island, New York[3][4] He was confirmed on the New Zealand team for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in April 2021.[5] At the Games, he failed to make it beyond the heats with a time of 3:43.22.[1]
In June 2022, Tanner won the Oceania Athletics Championships 1500m title.[6] The following month, he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the event at the World Championships held in Eugene, Oregon with a time of 3:36.32.[1] In August, he finished sixth in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games men's 1500m final, setting a new personal best of 3:31.34, an improvement of 3 seconds, and becoming the second-fastest New Zealander of all time over the distance behind Nick Willis.[7]
On 28 January 2023, Tanner lowered his personal best time for the mile by 0.41s to record 3:54.56 in regaining the New Zealand national title at the Cook's Classic in Whanganui.[8] He improved his mile best time twice in the following two weeks with 3:52.85 and then 3:51.70, both indoors in the United States.[1]
Selected for the 1500m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, he reached the semi-finals.[9]
In January 2024, Tanner retained the New Zealand national title in the mile at the Cook's Classic in Whanganui.[10]
In 2024, he was selected to compete for New Zealand at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 1500m race.[11][12] Tanner finished 13th in heat 3 with a time of 3:39.87, then 13th in heat 2 of the repecharge (3:40.71), failing to qualify for the semi-finals.[13][14]
On 9 March 2025 Tanner retained the New Zealand national senior men's 1500m title at Dunedin's Caledonian Ground, finishing first in a dead heat with Sam Ruthe in a time of 3:44.31.[15] In September 2025, he competed at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, without advancing to the semi-finals.[16][17]
In January 2026, Tanner lowered his 800 metres personal best to 1:45.94 at the Potts Classic in Hastings.[18]
Personal bests
- 800 metres – 1:45.94 (Hastings 2026)
- 1500 metres – 3:31.24 (Chorzów 2023)
- 1500 metres indoor – 3:34.72 (New York City 2021) NR
- One mile – 3:49.51 (Eugene 2023)
- One mile indoor – 3:51.70 (New York City 2023)
- 3000 metres – 7:50.26 (Wellington 2024)
- 5000 metres – 13:32.74 (Auckland 2022)
- 10,000 metres – 31:26.86 (Wellington 2018)
