‘Maths lessons kept me grounded after Olympics qualification’

Team GB’s youngest track and field athlete in Paris has enjoyed a meteoric rise that has propelled her to the biggest stage of all

Maths lessons at school. British senior champion. Work experience teaching the reception class at her old primary school. A contract with Puma. And now the Eurostar to Paris as the youngest track and field Olympian for a generation.
That, in short order, has been the last four weeks for Phoebe Gill, a 17-year-old 800-metre runner, whose emergence this year has prompted a message of congratulations from Dame Kelly Holmes – Britain’s last Olympic champion over her distance – and comparisons with Emma Raducanu. The latter, says Gill, has been a definite inspiration for how the 2021 US Open winner combined education and sport in the weeks before her similarly meteoric rise culminated with a grand slam victory.
“Life has definitely changed this year but school has been really good in grounding me between the hectic things,” said Gill, ahead of her arrival in the Olympic village ahead of her first race next Friday. “Going to maths class after winning the British champs was a grounding experience and going to work experience the week after was really good for me.
“Being with the little kids after such a stressful but fun weekend was a really nice way to come back down to earth basically. I was there for a week. It’s a good thing to find that balance; a nice way to take your mind off athletics for a while.”
Gill, who is studying for A-Levels next year in maths, chemistry and biology at St George’s in Harpenden, a state boarding school that was attended by England rugby players Owen Farrell and George Ford, also stressed that she intends to continue her education at university.
After finishing her GCSEs last year, Gill has actually been pleasantly surprised by the additional time available between lessons now and how it has enabled her to more easily fit in the training that is overseen by Debora Steer, her long-time coach at the St Albans Athletics Club.
“I definitely want to go to university,” she said. “It’s always good to have a back-up option and it’s been a big dream of mine for so long. I’ve pushed myself in that direction. To be away from home and maybe find a different set up will be a welcome change. I’m very excited for that next chapter.”
Although Gill came to the attention of the wider sporting public after beating Jemma Reekie at the British Championships in Manchester, she really laid down her first serious marker a few months earlier at a British Irish Milers’ Club meeting in Belfast.
A time of 1min 57.83sec was almost a four-second improvement on her personal best the previous season – “I remember crying on the plane back because going sub-two had been such a dream of mine” – and was what first prompted a message from Holmes. It also vindicated a talk she had much earlier in the year with Steer, who told a disbelieving Gill that she was good enough to reach the Olympic Games.
Of Holmes, Gill said: “She sent me a voice message on Instagram and I was screaming in the bathroom – I was in shock. I was on the verge of tears playing it. I sent one back and I’ve met her in person now. It’s crazy to be meeting all my idols that I’ve been watching on the TV for so long. But they’ve all been so lovely to me and it’s reaffirming to me that athletics is the right choice because it produces such wonderful people.
“She [Holmes] said to let whatever happens, happen. It was really good advice. I didn’t want to put too much stress on myself at the time. I sometimes need to remind myself and ground myself that I am still a teenager and do have a long career left. It’s weird hearing people compare me to Tom Daley and other young Olympians. I hope that I have successful journeys like them.”
Gill’s personal Olympic memories include watching hockey at London 2012 – when she was only five – and then setting the alarm in the middle of the night to see Keely Hodgkinson take silver three years ago in Tokyo.
“It was unforgettable – to think I’m running on this stage is unbelievable,” she says. “I can’t wait to run with all these great Brits, especially Keely Hodgkinson. I’m sure she’ll be feeling a bit of heat going into the Games. But she’s such a mature athlete – I know that she’ll be able to deal with it. She’s such a lovely person. She spoke to me after the trials and I was trying not to fangirl because I’ve been looking up to her so long.
“I definitely want to get everything I can out of it; the village, the atmosphere, being around all these legends of the sport.
“To think I’m someone for younger athletes to look up to is a very nice and warm feeling for me. I want to share all my experiences on social media so people know what it’s like to be going at this young age.
“I think every athlete always puts some goals in their head. For me it’s just to progress through as many rounds as possible and to have fun and run with freedom the entire time. I know that’s when I start to excel.”