Phoebe Gill leads GB team at European U18 Championships

The teenager set a stunning European U18 800m record of 1:57.86 in Belfast in May

Phoebe Gill will lead the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at this year’s European Under-18 Championships in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia (July 18-21).

The 17-year-old has had a season to remember so far, with the pinnacle being her European under-18 800m record, set at the Belfast Irish Milers Meet (May 11).

Phoebe Gill

She clocked 1:57.86 and largely ran the second lap on her own, beating the likes of Erin Wallace and Abigail Ives by more than two seconds.

In doing so, Gill smashed the European under-18 mark of 1:59.65, set by East Germany’s Marion Geissler-Hübner in 1979.

The Brit also became the second fastest under-18 female athlete over the distance in history. Only China’s Wang Yuan, who ran 1:57.18 in 1993, has gone quicker.

Perhaps even more impressively, Gill then backed up that 1:57.86 with a 1:58.07 victory at the British Milers Grand Prix in Manchester on May 25.

This is how Phoebe Gill set an incredible European U18 800m record 🔥

She ran the race gun-to-tape in Belfast, clocking 1:57.86 🇬🇧

📹 @Eamonn_Christiepic.twitter.com/9rRSyDrvdp

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) May 11, 2024

Gill is set to compete in the 800m and medley relay at the European Under-18 Championships.

Given she has now gone under the Olympic 800m standard twice, the teenager also knows a top two finish at this weekend’s UK Athletics Championships – doubling up as the trials for the Games – could seal a spot in Paris.

It might mean that Gill competes in Slovakia and then runs at the Olympics less than a fortnight later, with the athletics action in the French capital taking place between August 1-11.

Joining Gill over the 800m at the European Under-18 Championships is Shaikira King, who is second in the 2024 European under-18 standings after her 2:02.60 clocking earlier this season.

Another athlete who currently goes into the event as the European leader is Jake Odey-Jordan in the men’s 200m. The US-based athlete clocked 20.55 in Philadelphia earlier in June.

Iwan Thomas is also top of the European under-18 rankings this season, after his 5:49.17 run in the 2000m steeplechase. He is joined by Dillon Millard. in the event, with the Taunton athlete third in those rankings.

Lyla Belshaw [women’s 1500m], Olivia Forrest [women’s 3000m], Matthew McKenna [men’s 800m] and Daisy Snell [women’s long jump] are all second in the 2024 European U18 lists, adding further firepower to the squad heading to Slovakia.

British Athletics team leader Darren Ritchie: “Congratulations to the athletes and their support networks on earning selection for the championships. This competition is an important step in this early part of the pathway, so this will be a great learning experience for all the athletes selected.

“I wish them all the best in their preparations and I look forward to seeing them perform on the track and in the field next month.”

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