Neil Gourley (born 7 February 1995) is a Scottish

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

specialising in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. 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 The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

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

at the 2015 European Under-23 Championships. He competed collegiately for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 va ...

, where in 2018 he anchored the men's

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event. U ...

team to an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

championship title. In 2019, Gourley reached the final of his specialist event in front of the home crowd at the European Indoor Championships in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

but was unable to compete in it due an illness. 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 Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, 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 Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and runner-up mile finish in

New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(with a European indoor record over the distance) earlier that month. In March, he claimed the silver medal in his signature event at the European Indoor Championships in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

behind only

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jakob Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympic ...

, 3:34.23 to 3:33.95. It was the 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.

Achievements

Gourley and Ingebrigtsen at 2023 European Indoor Championships

International competitions

¹Did not start in the final

Personal bests

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

– 1:44.82 (

Pfungstadt Pfungstadt is a town of 25,029 inhabitants (2020), in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the state of Hesse, Germany. History The town was first mentioned in 785 as property of the Monastery of Lorsch and got its town rights in 1886 due to its ...

2022) ** 800 metres indoor – 1:47.04 (

Clemson, SC Clemson () is a city in Pickens and Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is home to Clemson University; in 2015, ''the Princeton Review'' cited the town of Clemson as ranking #1 in the United States for " town-and-gown" ...

2018) **

1000 metres The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...

indoor – 2:18.68 (

Blacksburg, VA Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of V ...

2021) *

– 3:30.60 (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

2023) ** 1500 metres indoor – 3:32.48 (

2023) * One mile – 3:52.91 (

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

2022) ** One mile indoor – 3:49.46 (

2023) European record ** 3000 metres indoor – 7:48.94 (

Fayetteville, AR Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

2022) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

– 13:11.44 (

Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

2023) ** 5000 metres indoor – 13:16.24 (

2022)

Circuit wins and titles

World Athletics Indoor Tour The World Athletics Indoor Tour, formerly the IAAF World Indoor Tour, is an annual series of indoor track and field meetings, held since 2016. It was designed to create a Diamond League-style circuit for indoor track and field events, to raise th ...

1500 m overall winner: 2023 **

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

: Boston New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (Mile), Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final (1500m, )

National titles

British Athletics Championships The British Athletics Championships is the premier national championship in track and field held in the United Kingdom, and are organised by British Athletics. The event has doubled as the main trials meet for international team selection for maj ...

: 2019 *

British Indoor Athletics Championships The British Indoor Athletics Championships is the annual national championship in indoor track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by UK Athletics. Eight track and five field events for both men and women are contested, with athletes being i ...

** 1500 metres: 2019, 2023

References

External links

* * 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Glasgow Scottish male middle-distance runners British male middle-distance runners British Athletics Championships winners Virginia Tech alumni Virginia Tech Hokies men's track and field athletes Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games {{Scotland-athletics-bio-stub