Hometown hero Matthew Centrowitz won his first gold medal after taking out the 1500m final at the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Centrowitz fended off the challenge of Jakub Holusa to take gold with a time of three minutes, 44.22 seconds in Portland on Sunday.

Reigning champion Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti set the early pace but when New Zealand's Nick Willis swept to the front with 400 metres to go it was then rest of the field kicked into gear.

Centrowitz reacted immediately by moving past Ethiopia's Dawit Wolde into second place and took the lead with 20m left in the run to the finish line. 

"I wanted it very bad," the American said following his win. "I found the push from the crowd at the end. They got me through that last 50."