Jemma Reekie completed a historic double, breaking Laura Muir’s British record for the indoor mile in New York - only a week after taking half a second off her fellow athlete’s 800m mark – and then added a third record only seconds later.
To smash three British records in eight days is a massive achievement, particularly at the beginning of an Olympic year, but the 21 year old admitted she did not realise until she spoke to Andy Young. “I didn’t even know until I phoned my coach to ask, ‘Was that all right?’” I wondered if 4.17 was a good mile time for him to tell me it was a British record,” said the former Loughborough College sport student.
After taking half a second off Jenny Meadows’ British indoor 800m record at the Glasgow Emirates Arena with a time of 1:57.91, Jemma made her American debut in the Wanamaker Mile at the Milrose Games in New York by not only clocking 4:17.88 but also going through the 1500m mark in 4:00.56, wiping away two of training partner Laura Muir’s UK bests in one go.
Jemma won double European Under-23 gold in Sweden last year.