2017 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix

Coburn, McLaughlin, Martinez, Simpson Break DMR World Record

Coburn, McLaughlin, Martinez, Simpson Break DMR World Record

The quartet of Emma Coburn, Sydney McLaughlin, Brenda Martinez, and Jenny Simpson broke the distance medley relay world record with a time of 10:40.31 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

Jan 28, 2017 by Meg Bellino
Coburn, McLaughlin, Martinez, Simpson Break DMR World Record
The quartet of Emma Coburn, Sydney McLaughlin, Brenda Martinez, and Jenny Simpson broke the distance medley relay world record with a time of 10:40.31 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

Coburn got things started in the 1200m with a 3:18.40 split. High school Olympian McLaughlin split 52.32 on the 400m, putting the U.S. team slightly ahead of the New Balance Europe team. Martinez pulled away from the European squad with a 2:01.92 800m split, setting things up for Olympic bronze medalist Simpson. 

Simpson ran a solo effort of 4:27.66 in the 1600m to break the world record by two seconds.


"All of us were in Rio and had long seasons," Coburn told NBC. "It's a lot to ask to be in your peak form at this point."

"It was amazing," McLaughlin said. "I knew coming in that it was going to be a tough race but if we all did our part we would be able to get it done."

The previous indoor record of 10:42.57 was set in 2015 by Sarah Brown, Mahagony Jones, Megan Krumpoch, and Martinez.