Receiving autographs by schoolchildren is still a novelty for Phoebe Gill that she must remember why: she ran in the Olympic semi-finals at the age of 17.
This recognition, recognizes Gill, is “the main thing that has changed in my life, but I am very grateful for this year”.
Post-Olympic life was taken care of by tests, courses and exams when she is preparing to sit her levels A, but in July, Gill was the youngest member of the Athletics team of the GB team for over 40 years.
Partly of a contingent of 800 meters alongside Keely Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie, Gill was forced to grow quickly after winning the British championships in July to qualify for Paris 2024.
“I think I learned a lot,” said Gill Telegraph Sport from his house in St Albans. “I almost became a different person in terms of confidence, because my life changed in a day when I ran the time of Olympic and sudden qualification, I had to face the new challenge which is the media and the races Seniors.
“Being a young person in the field of an older person with qualifications to go to the Olympic Games, I felt like I had to grow in a way.”
Last year was undoubtedly a season of small groups for Gill. In May, just after 17 years, she ran the 800m in 1 min 57.86 seconds, breaking a European record under 185 years old established by Marion Geissler-Hubner of East Germany. The following month, she stung the seasoned Reekie in first place at the national championships with a time of 1: 58.66.
Preparing for Paris having run in front of the crowd containing at most a thousand people, Gill had to have an unorthodox step. With the help of her agent, she had access to the London Diamond League track as a spectator and was “breathtaking” by the closed counters stadium. However, all the Olympic experience was always a shock.
“I had tried to prepare myself in all ways, but there is simply no way you can prepare to enter into [the Olympics]”Explains Gill. “Because you go there and the whole city is decorated with the decor of the Olympic Games and you realize how large this event is and that goes to the Olympic village – it’s a city, it’s massive.
“The feeling when you go out at the stadium and there are just thousands of people watching, I could do nothing to really prepare myself at this time because it was shocking and very crushing.
“But this feeling after having run and I could take everything – because I was trying to block everything before the starting line – it was so incredible and I don’t think I could reproduce this again.”
The Gill Olympic Games finally ended with tears because it was “submerged by emotion” and “overwhelmed by the fact that everything had ended” when it did not qualify for the Olympic final via the ‘One of the fastest launched places. But she was comforted by her teammate and the future gold medalist Hodgkinson, who reminded her of her future in sport.
As 2025 approaches, Gill’s current aspirations could not be further from the Violet track of the Stade de France.
School success has always been a priority for Gill when she confronts the choice facing many students of the 13th year: which universities postulate. But far from books and practice questions, there are always reminders of his summer feat.
“Sometimes I’m going to go out and there will be a young girl or a boy who looked at me at the Olympic Games and they will come and ask for a photo or a signature and I will say to myself:” What? ” For what?’ And I will remember that I went to the Olympic Games, ”explains Gill.
Looking beyond the next few months, Gill is home to the ambitions to relive his Olympic experience in Los Angeles 2028, but recognizes that the competition for a place in the British team will be difficult.
More immediately, his attention to athletics will focus on qualifying for the world championships in Tokyo next September, the biggest event outside an Olympic year. But above all that, there is still school and levels A.
Phoebe Gill faces the campaign for the 247 x Puma collection, which is available now.
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