NO SLOWING DOWN
Reekie cements her status as a medal contender after breaking two British records in one race
JEMMA REEKIE’S astonishing earlyseason form has continued with a third British record in the space of two races. The 21-year-old, who last week smashed Jenny Meadows’ ten-year-old 800-metres indoor mark, broke both the British indoor 1500m record and that for an indoor mile while contesting the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in New York on Saturday.
Her time of 4mins 17.88secs, and her 1500m split of 4:00.56, took two records away from her training partner Laura Muir and cemented her shock status as a global medal contender in an Olympic year.
Reekie, who won two European Under-23 gold medals last year, was third in New York behind Elle Purrier of the US and Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, and now sits fifth on the all-time list.
She said: ‘I actually phoned my coach (Andy Young) and said: “Is that okay?” I had no clue what a good mile time was.
‘After running 1.57 (for 800m in Glasgow a week earlier), I was like: “Woah, can I do that again?” I’m getting more confident. I tell myself: “You deserve to be on this start line”. I’m not a junior any more, I’m not an Under-23 now, I need to step up to be a senior.’
Reekie’s sudden prominence on the senior team, and her upstaging of Muir, has given further fuel to the footwear debate in athletics. Young confirmed to Sportsmail last week she is wearing a Nike prototype not yet on the market, but insisted it featured no carbon plates.
Her incredible form raises the stakes for Muir, who has watched her young training partner raise her game to new heights. But Reekie claimed the four-time European indoor champion remains an inspirational figure.
‘Laura’s taught me everything I know,’ said Reekie. ‘I came to her at such a young age and she took me straight under her wing.
‘Slowly, I’ve crept up on her and she knows how hard I work and I appreciate how great an athlete she is. On and off the track, I couldn’t ask for a better training partner and friend.
‘She’s helped me through a lot and I’ve helped her through a lot. We’ve always got each other and it means a lot.’
Fellow Scot Chris O’Hare won the men’s Wanamaker Mile for the second time in 3:55.61 and confessed his motivation to reach Tokyo 2020 has grown after sitting out last year’s World Championships.
The 29-year-old, a European indoor silver medallist last March, bolted clear off the final bend and then revealed how pulling back from the brink of quitting has made him stronger.
He said: ‘Missing out on the team last year was obviously hard. Last year just seemed to be small injury and niggle, one after another.
‘Like your kids having the cold, it seemed to be one after another. It was quite difficult emotionally.
But it gave me a mature outlook on this year to just do my thing, run as hard as I can, when I can, and just get after it.’
Elsewhere, Nikki Manson improved the Scottish high-jump record for the second time inside a month in the Czech Republic on Saturday. The GB&NI international cleared 1.93m to win at the Hustopece indoor meeting to edge up the mark she set recently at the Emirates Arena.
Armand Duplantis broke the world record in the pole vault, clearing 6.17m at the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun. The 20-year-old Swede, who is Glasgow-bound next weekend, added one centimetre to the mark set by Renaud Lavillenie in Donetsk in 2014.