The current British 800m champion went under 54 seconds for the first time ever in an indoor 400m
Phoebe Gill has demonstrated her speed work in the 400m and started the track and field season in style.
The reigning British 800m champion, who competed in three 400m races throughout the whole of last year, has already ticked two of them off in 2025.
On New Year’s Day, Gill clocked 54.14 at the Lee Valley Open, an indoor mark that was much quicker than her previous best of 54.82.
The 17-year-old has now gone even faster and, at the same venue, recorded a time of 53.65 (January 18), which is a personal indoor best in the 400m.
That puts her fifth on the British under-20 indoor 400m all-time list – only Amber Anning, Yemi Mary John, Emily Newnham and Laviai Nielsen have gone faster domestically in that age category.
Phoebe Gill (Getty)
Gill did record a mark of 53.3 at a Southern Athletics League meet last July but that was outdoors.
Such a focus on the 400m in January highlights Gill’s ambition to improve her speed work in the 800m.
Last year, she became the youngest British track athlete to compete at the Olympics in 40 years, securing her spot at the Games by becoming the national champion over two laps.
Gill had been making waves on the junior scene for a while – including winning the 800m title at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games – but last season’s results catapulted her into the national spotlight.
Phoebe Gill [R] (Keith McClure)
At the Belfast Irish Milers Meet, she clocked 1:57.86 and broke Marion Geissler-Hübner’s 45-year-old European under-18 record in the process.
Not only had Gill decimated her personal best by almost four seconds but she also went inside the Olympic 800m qualification standard of 1:59.30.
Gill reached the semi-finals at the Olympics and, in an exclusive interview with AW back in December, 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”.
Her immediate focus for 2025 is on her education and finishing off her A-level exams – biology, chemistry and maths – in June.
The Tokyo World Championships being in September does allow breathing space to start her outdoor season later on as well.
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