Neil Gourley

Neil Gourley

Neil Gourley in 2019
Personal information
Born	(1995-02-07) 7 February 1995 (age 29) Glasgow, Scotland
Education	Virginia Tech[1]
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	1500 metres
College team	Virginia Tech Hokies
Club	Giffnock North Athletics Club
Coached by	Mark Rowland (2019–)[2] Ben Thomas (2013–2018) Gordon Lockie (–2013)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Great Britain European Indoor Championships 2023 Istanbul 1500 m World Cup 2018 London 1500 m European U23 Championships 2015 Tallinn 1500 m

Neil Gourley (born 7 February 1995)^[3] is a Scottish middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He won the silver medal in the event at the 2023 European Indoor Championships and bronze at the 2015 European Under-23 Championships.

Gourley is the European indoor record holder for the mile and the British indoor record holder for the 1500 m. He is a three-time national champion (1500 m).

Career

Neil Gourley won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2015 European Under-23 Championships.

He competed collegiately for the Virginia Tech Hokies, where in 2018 he anchored the men's distance medley relay team to an NCAA championship title.^[4]

In 2019, Gourley reached the final of his specialist event in front of the home crowd at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow but was unable to compete in it due an illness.^[5]

On 25 February 2023, the 28-year-old broke Josh Kerr's British indoor 1500 m record with a time of 3:32.48 for a win at the World Indoor Tour Final in Birmingham, replacing him at No.8 on the respective world all-time list. Gourley's success secured him also overall 1500 m World Indoor Tour victory, after his mile win in Boston, MA and runner-up mile finish in New York, NY (with a European indoor record over the distance) earlier that month.^[6][7] In March, he claimed the silver medal in his signature event at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul behind only Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 3:34.23 to 3:33.95.^[8] It was Gourley's greatest sports achievement up to that point.

Later that year in May, Gourley opened his outdoor season with a 5000m personal best of 13:16.^[9]

After winning the 1500 metres gold medal at the 2024 British Athletics Championships, Gourley was subsequently named in the Great Britain team for the 2024 Summer Olympics^[10] where he finished 10th in the final.^[11]

Achievements

Gourley (L) took silver in the 1500 m behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen (R) at the 2023 European Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

International competitions

Representing  Great Britain /  Scotland

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time
2015	European U23 Championships	Tallinn, Estonia	3rd	1500 m	3:45.04
2017	European U23 Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	4th	1500 m	3:49.53
2018	World Cup	London, United Kingdom	3rd	1500 m	3:53.24
2019	European Indoor Championships	Glasgow, United Kingdom	8th (h)	1500 m	3:46.63^1
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	11th	1500 m	3:37.30
2021	European Indoor Championships	Toruń, Poland	12th	1500 m	3:45.99
2022	World Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	6th	1500 m	3:35.87
	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	14th (sf)	1500 m	3:37.22
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	8th	1500 m	3:38.40
2023	European Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	2nd	1500 m	3:34.23
	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	9th	1500 m	3:31.10
2024	European Championships	Rome, Italy	9th	1500 m	3:34.11
	Olympic Games	Paris, France	10th	1500 m	3:30.88

¹Did not start in the final

Personal bests

• 800 metres – 1:44.82 (Pfungstadt 2022)
  • 800 metres indoor – 1:47.04 (Clemson, SC 2018)
  • 1000 metres indoor – 2:18.68 (Blacksburg, VA 2021)
• 1500 metres – 3:30.60 (London 2023)
  • 1500 metres indoor – 3:32.48 (Birmingham 2023) NR
• One mile – 3:47.74 (Eugene 2024)
  • One mile indoor – 3:49.46 (New York, NY 2023) European record
  • 3000 metres indoor – 7:48.94 (Fayetteville, AR 2022)
• 5000 metres – 13:11.44 (Los Angeles, CA 2023)
  • 5000 metres indoor – 13:16.24 (Boston, MA 2022)

Circuit wins and titles

• World Athletics Indoor Tour 1500 m overall winner: 2023
  • 2023: Boston New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (Mile), Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final (1500m, NR)

National titles

• British Athletics Championships
  • 1500 metres: 2019
• British Indoor Athletics Championships
  • 1500 metres: 2019, 2023

References

1. "College bio". Retrieved 10 March 2019.
2. "Power of 10 profile". Retrieved 10 March 2019.
3. "Neil GOURLEY – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
4. Gretschel, Johanna (9 March 2018). "VA Tech Men's DMR Wins Program's First NCAA Title In Distance Event". FloTrack. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
5. Smith, Tyrone (4 March 2021). "Gourley out to 'right wrongs' in Poland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
6. Whittington, Jess (25 February 2023). "Tsegay threatens world indoor 3000m record, as tour titles are won in Birmingham". World Athletics. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
7. Nelson, Craig (25 February 2023). "Hodgkinson, Asher-Smith & Gourley set British records". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
8. Wilson, Jeremy (4 March 2023). "Neil Gourley targeting Jakob Ingebrigtsen scalp after narrow 1,500m second". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
9. Jardine, Peter (29 May 2023). "Neil leads the way with 5000m PB amid top class performances". Scottish Athletics. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
10. "Kerr & Johnson-Thompson head GB Olympics athletics squad". BBC Sport. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
11. "No regrets for Gourley after 10th place". BBC Sport. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.

External links

• Neil Gourley at World Athletics
• Neil Gourley at Team Scotland