Neil Gourley (born 7 February 1995) is a Scottish middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He won the silver medal in the event at both the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships and 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.
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. In August 2019, he became the British 1500 metres champion after winning the title at the 2019 British Athletics Championships.
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. 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.
Later that year in May, Gourley opened his outdoor season with a 5000m personal best of 13:16.
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 where he finished 10th in the final.
In Birmingham on 15 February 2025, he broke the British men's indoor 1000m record in a time of two minutes 16.74 seconds. Later in August he won his fourth British outdoor title at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships.
Achievements
International competitions 2015European U23 ChampionshipsTallinn, Estonia3rd1500 m3:45.042017European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland4th1500 m3:49.532018World CupLondon, United Kingdom3rd1500 m3:53.242019European Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom8th (h)1500 m3:46.631World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar11th1500 m3:37.302021European Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland12th1500 m3:45.992022World Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia6th1500 m3:35.87World ChampionshipsEugene, OR, United States14th (sf)1500 m3:37.22European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany8th1500 m3:38.402023European Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey2nd1500 m3:34.23World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary9th1500 m3:31.102024European ChampionshipsRome, Italy9th1500 m3:34.11Olympic GamesParis, France10th1500 m3:30.882025European Indoor ChampionshipsApeldoorn, Netherlands4th1500 m3:38.29World Indoor ChampionshipsNanjing, China2nd1500 m3:39.07World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan10th1500 m3:35.562026Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom16th (h)Mile4:01.45 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) 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 performances
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, )
National titles British Athletics Championships 1500 metres: 2019 British Indoor Athletics Championships 1500 metres: 2019, 2023
References
External links