ROME - Bloomington's Christin Wurth-Thomas became the fourth American woman ever to break 4 minutes in the 1,500-meter run on Friday when she placed second in the Golden Gala track and field meet.

Wurth-Thomas clocked 3:59.98 to trail only Maryan Yussuf Jamal of Bahrain, who sped a meet-record and world-leading 3:56.55.

Wurth-Thomas led the field through a 1:02.91 first lap before Italy's Judith Varga set the pace through 800 meters at 2:07.85. Jamal, who was born in Ethiopia, led at the 1,200-meter mark in 3:11.81.

The only other Americans to ever break 4:00.00 were Mary Slaney in 1983 (3:57.12), Suzy Favor Hamilton in 2000 (3:57.40) and Jenny Barringer this year (3:59.90).

Wurth-Thomas is the fourth fastest woman in the world this year.

On Tuesday, Wurth-Thomas placed third in the 1,500 in the Athletissima meet at Lausanne, Switzerland. Her time of 4:05.09 trailed Gelete Burka (4:00.67) and Jamal (4:01.99).

Wurth-Thomas returns to action July 25 in London before competing July 28 in Monaco and July 31 in Stockholm. She will represent the U.S. in the World Championships at Berlin, where the 1,500 heats are Aug. 18, the semifinals Aug. 21 and the finals Aug. 23.