Teenaged phenom Hobbs Kessler turns pro, signs with Adidas

June 24, 2021

Only 18, the American U20 1,500m record holder will still attend Northern Arizona University, but he won’t compete as a collegiate athlete. Canadian Running

American record holder Hobbs Kessler has announced that he is turning pro and signing with Adidas. The 18-year-old from Ann Arbor, Mich., has had an incredible season, breaking the American high school indoor mile record (he ran 3:57.66 in February) and national U20 1,500m record (his 3:34.36 in late May bettered Jim Ryun‘s 55-year-old mark of 3:36.1). Kessler was set to join the track team at Northern Arizona University (NAU) this fall, but he now plans to only attend as a student.