Keely Klassic: Neil Gourley and Lina Nielsen break British records in Birmingham
2025-02-16
Category: sports

Neil Gourley and Lina Nielsen both set new British indoor records at the Keely Klassic meeting in Birmingham. Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson had been due to go for the world indoor record before pulling out of the eponymous event with a hamstring injury. But the crowds were still treated to some high-quality performances as Nielsen shaved 0.24 seconds off Dina Asher-Smith's women's 300m record, winning in 36.53 seconds. And Gourley produced the fastest indoor 1,000m time by a British man, clocking two minutes 16.74 seconds - 0.46 seconds faster than the previous mark set by Charlie Grice in New York in 2020. It was not enough to clinch victory, though, with the Netherlands' Samuel Chapple triumphing in 2:16.09.Georgia Bell, who won 1500m bronze at the Paris Olympics, narrowly missed out on a third British record of the afternoon, with her winning time of 4:00.63 just over a second outside Laura Muir's national mark of 3:59.58.World indoor champion Molly Caudery also put in another polished performance to win the women's pole vault with 4.73m, just 2cm outside her season's best.      