Neil Gourley

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.

Neil Gourley
Neil Gourley in 2019
Personal information
Nickname(s)Barry
Born (1995-02-07) 7 February 1995
Glasgow, Scotland
EducationVirginia Tech[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)1500 metres
College teamVirginia Tech Hokies
ClubGiffnock North Athletics Club
Coached byMark Rowland (2019–)[2]
Ben Thomas (2013–2018)
Gordon Lockie (–2013)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
European Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place2023 Istanbul1500 m
World Cup
Bronze medal – third place2018 London1500 m
European U23 Championships
Bronze medal – third place2015 Tallinn1500 m

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 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.[9]

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

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
 Representing  Great Britain /  Scotland
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 3:46.631
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

1Did not start in the final

Personal bests

Circuit wins and titles

National titles

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.


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