Teenage track star Phoebe Gill hints at possible 'exciting' debut at Commonwealth Games

Teenage star Phoebe Gill hinted she could make her debut over the iconic mile when it returns to the Commonwealth Games next summer.

Gill burst onto the scene last summer when she broke the European Under-18 record over 800m last year before going on to represent Team GB at the Paris Olympics aged just 18.

Injury has limited her competitive action on the track so far this year, but the exciting talent believes next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow could be the perfect long-term target.

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“It’s exciting because I have never done a mile, so it gives me an opportunity to do my first mile maybe at the Commonwealth Games,” she said exactly one year out from the Games.

“As a middle-distance athlete, I focus on the 800m and 1500m, but the mile is such an historic event in England with people like Seb Coe and Steve Cram.

“For it to be brought back to the Commonwealth Games is so exciting, I know it is going to be such an incredible event to watch. To be able to participate is something to aim for.”

Should Gill compete for England next summer, she will continue a special relationship with the Commonwealth Games.

She made her international debut in an England vest at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2023, where she won the 800m in a Games record time in Trinidad & Tobago.

And she revealed the transformative impact of that Games ahead of her stunning breakout season a year later.

“I learned what it’s like to go out with a team for two weeks with a whole new group of people,” she reflected

“I gained a lot of confidence from it, and it gave me a good foundation to go into the Olympics the next year.

“When it came to representing Great Britain, I had an understanding of what it would be like to go out with a whole group of new people.

“I am so fortunate that Team England gave me the opportunity to represent my country. It is my favourite competition I have done; it was so much fun.

“The Commonwealth Games is historic and to be part of Team England means so much to me. I was 16 at the time and I was so excited to get my first England vest.”

Gill is part of an exciting crop of English middle-distance runners, which includes established names as well as a whole host of young talents who could be looking to make their mark in Glasgow next summer.

Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson leads the way in Gill’s favoured 800m, while Georgia Hunter Bell has shown her ability across both distances.

But Gill is also at the forefront of a new group of runners including European Under-20 5000m record holder Innes FitzGerald and fellow Commonwealth Youth Games athletes Jess Bailey and Lyla Belshaw.

“There are so many athletes my age who are running incredibly at the moment,” she added. “I’ve been seeing the times going down and down, people getting faster and to be included in that cohort is something that I am very proud of.

“The competition right now for middle distance in the UK is at its top and it’s so exciting to watch.

“Everyone is so friendly, we all get on so well and if we were all on the start line in Glasgow for the mile it would just be something truly incredible. It would be amazing to see what will come of it.”

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will run from 23 July to 2 August 2026. Keep up with everything Team England at https://teamengland.org/news