Ryan Gregson lines up for shot at Bowerman Mile in Diamond League

Ryan Gregson gets a shot at a world-class field in the Bowerman Mile in Oregon.

Australian 1500m record holder Ryan Gregson. Picture: Phil Hilyard

Australian 1500m record holder Ryan Gregson has been kicking himself for nine months, ever since he made a tactical error in the Rio Olympic final that cost him a shot at a medal, but tonight he will finally have the chance to do something about it.

Gregson will line up in what has become the world’s most prestigious mile race, the Bowerman Mile, at the Diamond League meet in Eugene, Oregon, alongside most of the men who were in that Olympic final.

It is arguably a stronger field than the Olympic final, given it will include eight world-class Kenyans, led by world champion Asbel Kiprop, as well as the US Olympic champion Matt Centro­witz, and Gregson is eager to prove that he can mix it with the very best in his event.

“When I got to the Olympic final, I didn’t back myself as much as I should have,’’ Gregson said.

“Now it’s about being competitive, being further up the field and trying to assert myself with the best guys in the world.’’

The Rio race was the slowest Olympic final for 84 years, won in a pedestrian 3min 50sec, the ­result of three excruciatingly slow laps followed by an almighty kickdown. The winner of tonight’s mile race will probably run faster over 1609m.

“I had never been in a race like that in my life and I was too ­conservative,’’ Gregson recalled from Oregon.

“I really didn’t play my cards right but it was such a great learning experience. I know now that I have to be right up there at the bell. It was a tough way to learn, but I have learned and I have moved on.’’

Gregson’s personal best for the mile stands at 3:52.2 from 2010, the same year he set the national 1500m record, but he believes he’s in better shape now.

“I think I can be pretty competitive and run 3:50 (Simon Doyle’s national record stands at 3:51.54),’’ he said.

Gregson warmed up for this race by running the 1500m at the Diamond League meet in Doha earlier this month, where he qualified for the world championships in the 1500m, running 3:34.56.

“It was my first real opportunity to run the standard and I knocked that off which takes the pressure off the rest of my season,” he said. “It was a whole lot better than last year, when I fell over in the first five metres.

“We have done a lot of long slow running before that so Doha felt like a shock to the system but I feel better for that.’’

In recent years the Bowerman Mile has overtaken Oslo’s Dream Mile as the most prestigious mile race in the world, primarily through the power of sponsor Nike.

“This really is the premier mile race and the field shows that,’’ Gregson said.

“I think it’s pretty much the strongest field in history. This Diamond League is massive ­because of Nike. They pump a lot of money into it. They try to make every race the equivalent of an Olympic final.’’

Gregson will be one of four Melbourne Track Club runners competing in Eugene.

His young training partners Luke Matthews and Matt Ramsden will race in the International Mile (the B race), which Gregson won in 2010 and 2011 as he was climbing the international ranks.

“Luke’s really stepped it up this year, he’s more consistent with his training so that should show, and Ramsden is the future of our sport, the upside for him is huge. He’s a pretty scary talent but he’s just learning from the older guys in the group at this stage,’’ Gregson said.

US collegiate cross country champion Patrick Tiernan will compete in the 5000m.