The current British 800m champion produced a record-breaking performance over two laps at last year’s edition
Phoebe Gill will compete over 1500m at this year’s Belfast Irish Milers Meet (May 10).
At last year’s edition, the teenager clocked 1:57.86 and broke Marion Geissler-Hübner’s 45-year-old European under-18 record in the process.
Not only did Gill decimate her personal best by almost four seconds but she also went inside the Olympic 800m qualification standard of 1:59.30.
Phoebe Gill
She then went on to secure the 800m title at the UK Athletics Championships and subsequently reached the semi-finals at the Olympics.
In an exclusive interview with AW back in December, Gill stated that “I was very proud of myself for how I handled the Games” and “looking back, I didn’t think that I’d be in the position that I’m in now”.
Natoya Goule leads with Phoebe Gill (left) (Getty)
The Brit will now aim to take a large chunk off her personal best in the 1500m, which is the 4:05.87 she set in Watford last May.
Gill, who is still 17, is currently third on the UK all-time 1500m list in the under-20 category.
Only Zola Budd (3:59.96) and Steph Twell (4:05.83) have gone quicker in it, with the former setting the national 1500m junior record in 1985.
It’s set to be an enthralling 1500m race in Belfast as Gill will compete against Jemma Reekie, who she beat on the way to the national 800m crown in Manchester.
The teenager also faces double European junior cross country champion Innes FitzGerald and Ava Lloyd, who placed fifth in the 1500m at last year’s World U20 Championships in Peru.
Phoebe Gill (Getty)
The Mary Peters Track in Belfast is notoriously quick and it’s unsurprising that meet entries sold out in just 15 minutes.
Other notable athletes who will be competing include Erin Wallace, Callum Dodds, Sharlene Mawdsley, Isabelle Boffey, and Tom Randolph.
Eamonn Christie, who is the Race Director at the event, told the BBC: “Once again I’m overwhelmed at how quickly the event sold out. I’m delighted at the caliber of athletes who have entered, including international, national, and local athletes.
“To date we have entries from Spain, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic as well as Ireland and Great Britain.”
This May, Phoebe Gill, who set a new 800-meter record at the Belfast Irish Milers Meet last year, will compete again. Gill’s time of 1:57.86, which was almost four seconds quicker than her previous personal best, set a new European Under-18 800m record at the age of just 17.
The St Albans athlete’s season began with this triumph, and she went on to win the 800-meter championship at the British Championships and make it to the Olympic semifinals in Paris in 2024.
This year, on May 10, Gill will compete in the 1500m in the Belfast meeting, which will be held at the Mary Peters Track. England’s Ava Lloyd, who placed seventh in the 1500m at the World Under-20 Championships, and Innes FitzGerald, a double European junior cross-country champion from Great Britain, will be fierce rivals for her.
Along with Czech champion Kimberley Ficenec, Scotland’s Erin Wallace, who placed second behind Gill in the 800m last year, will also try to take first place this time.
Last year’s event set a high standard when Callum Dodds broke the 1:45 mark in the men’s 800m, guaranteeing him a spot on the European Championships team. The Belfast Irish Milers Meet is becoming increasingly popular.
Tom Randolph, a fellow countryman who also finished the event in under 1:45, will be a fierce opponent for Dodds when he returns to the track to defend his title. Sharlene Mawdsley of Ireland, who was instrumental in the nation’s victory in the mixed relay at the European Championships, will also compete. She will have to contend with formidable opponents like Isabelle Boffey of Great Britain.
With entries selling out within 15 minutes of the meet’s opening on January 19, race director Eamonn Christie voiced his enthusiasm about the meet’s increasing status. The competition will feature athletes from all over Europe, including Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Poland, which will enhance its global feel.
Its inclusion in the World Athletics Continental Tour, which draws some of the top competitors from across the globe, further emphasizes the event’s elite position.
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