Coe's record under threat as Burgin builds momentum

BBC News

01-08-2025

UK Athletics ChampionshipsVenue: Alexander Stadium, Birmingham Dates: 2-3 AugustCoverage: BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website & app. View coverage details
Whatever happens next, Max Burgin will make sure he experiences Tokyo this year.The record-breaking 23-year-old has already booked an end-of-season holiday to explore Japan, a country he has always wanted to visit.Ideally, though, he will do so with a World Championship medal in his possession.Given his issues over recent years, Burgin is not taking anything for granted before this weekend's crucial UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham.Careful not to jinx his momentum, he is only willing to admit this is "definitely the best first half of a season I've had in a long time", speaking to BBC Sport.The signs are indeed extremely promising. Only four men worldwide have run faster than Burgin this year, after he lowered his personal best to one minute 42.36 seconds when following the reigning Olympic and world champions over the line at the London Diamond League.That time is within 1.5 seconds of David Rudisha's 2012 world record, and made him the third-fastest British man in history.It was the latest indication the Halifax athlete is beginning to uncover his true potential, having smashed world, European and British records as a junior."I've had a lot of hurdles and haven't necessarily progressed in the same way people had hoped for me back then, but I'd like to think I'm over a lot of the challenges of the past five or six years," says Burgin."Finally, I am getting back to the trajectory that I was showing when I was younger and breaking all these records."
Comparisons were drawn to British middle-distance greats Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram as Burgin broke through - doing so at the same time as Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson.Their careers have taken rather different paths, with a combination of injuries and bad luck leading Burgin to fear his early promise was "slipping away"."There were a lot of parallels in our development," he adds. "Obviously her career has absolutely taken off and maybe mine has stalled a little bit."But, looking at what she's achieved and knowing that I have that same sort of ceiling, that definitely gives me confidence. Knowing that, one day, I'll be able to get up there."Burgin lost 12 months, and missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, with hamstring and groin injuries. A calf issue - later diagnosed as deep vein thrombosis - then denied 2022's fastest man the chance to compete for a world medal.He eventually debuted on the global stage in Budapest two years ago, despite struggling with a nerve issue affecting his Achilles, and last summer became the first British man to reach the Olympic 800m final since the 2012 Games in London.
Burgin and his father Ian, also his coach, have grown accustomed to setting short-term goals.But, considering his big ambition for this World Championship year amid a period of relative consistency, he says he will "definitely be gunning for a medal" should he make the final in Tokyo.That itself is no easy feat, amid expectations the current generation will soon surpass Kenyan Rudisha's once seemingly untouchable time of 1:40.91.To have that opportunity, Burgin must first finish in the top two in Sunday's final at the British trials, where world bronze medallist Ben Pattison, also 23 and the second-fastest Briton in history, is among the competition.The pair are also rapidly closing in on Lord Coe's 44-year national record of 1:41.73.And, having already removed more than a second from his personal best this year, that is a mark now firmly on Burgin's radar as he strives for the global medals his talent has long promised."It feels achievable at the moment, 0.6 seconds is a lot when you're getting down to these faster times, but it's not impossible," he admits."There are a few fast races to go this season and I'll definitely be wanting to have a go at that. "It's very likely that, if you want to challenge for a World Championship medal, you'll need to be running a British record with the way the times are going."