Phoebe Gill to compete over 1500m at Belfast Irish Milers Meet – AW

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.

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”.

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 calibre 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.”

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