Teenage sensation Phoebe Gill’s remarkable rise scaled new heights after she made her dream come true by winning the 800m at the UK Athletics Championships to book a place at the Olympic Games.
With medal prospect Keely Hodgkinson opting to run the 400m, the way appeared to be clear for Jemma Reekie to take the national title over the two-lap distance.
But it was the 17-year-old St Albans Athletics Club member Gill who prevailed in a time of one minute 58.66sec, coming out on top after battle with Reekie in the home straight. Both athletes will join Hodgkinson in the Paris line-up.
Gill said: “It means the world to me. It is a dream come true. I can’t believe it. I was not expecting that at all.
“Having Jemma on my shoulder, someone I’ve looked up to so much, was such an amazing thing and we just used each other to get to the line.”
The Harpenden St George’s pupil hit the headlines on the international stage in May when she clocked one minute 57.86 seconds to comfortably win the 800m at the Belfast Irish Millers Meet in Northern Ireland.
That time was not only almost four seconds quicker than her personal best, but nearly two seconds quicker than the previous European Under-18 record of 1:59.65, set by East Germany's Marion Geissler-Hubner back in 1979.
With a confidence belying her age, Gill took control of the final with more than half the race remaining and dictated from the front to pull away from Reekie, who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, in the final strides.
Asked how she was processing her achievement in an interview with Athletics Weekly, she replied: “I’m not processing it! I’m not going to lie, I feel like I’m dreaming. It’s crazy. I can’t believe I’m in this situation.”
She described racing against Reekie as “amazing” and said: "I’ve looked up to Jemma for so long. I remember back in January, we happened to be training at Lea Valley together and I went up and asked for a photo.
"To think that I was running against her today is crazy but she’s such a lovely person and an amazing inspiration for so many 800m athletes and having her on my shoulder, and we were pushing each other to the line was an experience I can’t even describe, it was amazing."
Asked if she thought reaching the Olympics was a possibility at the start of the year, Gill said: “Absolutely not. My coach mentioned it in passing and I was like ‘are you being silly?! I can’t even comprehend that’. The fact that it’s here now is unbelievable to me.
“I was just focusing on Under-18 Euros, maybe Under-20 Worlds, but the fact I can go to the senior level event that everyone dreams of is just a dream come true.
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