by Stuart WeirGB medals in both 1500 races!
The British team picked up two more medals in the final afternoon of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, one in each of the 1500-meter races. As the Team GB press release put it: “The pair, who both suffered disappointment with their performances at the recent European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, showed the best British resilience in claiming global hardware to turn around their 2025 Indoor seasons”.
Scotland accounts for just 5.4 million of the British population of 66 million. Still, the country’s contribution to the track and field team is out of all proportion, particularly in middle-distance running. Think of Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman, Laura Muir, Jemma Reekie, Eilish McColgan, etc., and Neil Gourley.
I was delighted to see Neil pick up a global medal if a slight bias is allowed. He had finished 6th in Belgrade in 2022. He had qualified for the World Indoors in Glasgow, Scotland 2024, but was injured and could not run. He came second in the European indoors in 2023 in Istanbul, giving Jakob a real run for his money. His last race was the 2025 European Indoors, when he came fourth and was frustrated that he had gotten himself in a bad position and couldn’t make the move he knew he was capable of. In his words on Apeldoorn, “Sometimes you make your own luck in races, and I maybe didn’t put myself in the best spot to deal with all the carnage such is the event. I’ll put myself in better positions in the future; that one I just got a bit wrong today”. One reason for my bias is that he isn’t a charming man and is always happy to talk after a race, whether it went well or not.
He was the team captain in Nanjing, and Jeremiah Azu said his captain’s speech to the team had been inspiring.
In Nanjing, he ran a clever race, ensuring he was always in a good position to strike, cleverly negotiating his way through the traffic through some inside lane gaps that appeared. Neil crossed the line in 3:39.07, holding Luke Houser (USA) off to take silver, with Houser at 3:39.17!. Most middle-distance runners have failed at beating Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:38.79), but Neil gave it a good go. His assessment was: “It feels delicious. A couple of weeks ago, I came away really disappointed from the European indoor race; I had a point to prove, not so much to anyone else but to myself and my team, who have put in all the work to show that I am ready for something bigger. I am so glad I came out here and tried to prove that; I repay all the people who helped me get here.
“It was a change in tactics today. To some extent, it was a case of joining him if you can’t beat him. So it was the case: ‘When he shifts up in momentum, I am going to be behind him.’ That worked out better today as I fed off his momentum rather than looking around and reacting to what he was doing. It felt much better doing it that way. I felt in control the whole time, but I just left a little too much to do at home straight to catch Jakob. I am really pleased with how I competed on the world stage today.
“It’s brilliant. This time last year, I watched the world indoors as I was injured, really injured, and could barely walk at this point last year, and it was in my hometown in Glasgow. So, I thought about that and how I made the line-up today. Everything else was a bonus, and I went in with that mentality; anything is possible today.”
So much has been written about Georgia Hunter Bell, whose 4th place in last year’s World Indoors in Glasgow brought her to many people’s attention and gave her the belief that she could reach the Olympics. The story’s happy ending is That she made the Olympic team and returned with a bronze medal in the 1500. Perhaps because her elite career did not begin until she was 30, she now makes up for lost time and runs at every opportunity. At the recent European Indoors, she cruised into the final but was unwell on the day (of the final) and had to settle for 4th place.
Gudaf Tsegay went off in Nanjing at a pace no one could match. Initially, Diribe Welteji and Georgia Griffith tried to go with her. Hunter Bell calmly ran her own race at her own pace. No one was going to catch Tsegay, but Hunter Bell caught up with the two chasers and finished at 3:59.84 for an indoor PR. That is an Olympic bronze medal, a European outdoor silver, and a World Indoor bronze, not to mention two fourth places in the last 13 months.
Her reaction was: “”It feels fantastic. I am so happy. I felt really motivated today! I am inspired by the team’s performances and am glad.
“Apeldoorn was the most brutal loss of my career so far. I really thought I could win, so to come in fourth, I was absolutely devastated. I didn’t get out of bed the next day. I had to let myself mourn that one, but I think the mark of being a good athlete is when it goes wrong, learning from it, and coming back.
“I worked really hard to get myself back mentally this week; I knew the physical stuff was there, I was sick the week of Apeldoorn, but I knew I could physically get back. It’s tough out there, you and yourself, and you must believe in yourself… almost a bit delusionally believe in yourself!”
