UK Athletics Indoor Championships: Elliot Giles on fatherhood, injuries and medals

Giles was pipped to the line by Collins Kipruto of Kenya at the Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham last week but ran a season's best time of one minute 45.42 seconds

Having competed half a dozen times in the past month all over Europe while juggling a new business and adapting to life with a newborn daughter, Elliot Giles is a man who thrives on keeping busy.

The 27-year-old middle-distance runner leads the World Athletics Indoor Tour 800m rankings and has his sights firmly set on a medal at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in three weeks.

Giles must first gain selection for the British team at this weekend's UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

His prospects look promising following recent victories in Karlsruhe, Ostrava, France and Torun, in addition to clocking a 1500m lifetime best last month.

"I believe I'm the most consistent athlete in the world over 800m and if I keep showing up like that, I will get a medal eventually," said Giles, who came fourth at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.

"There are no nerves any more as I don't over-analyse or race the occasion," he added. "I race the competitors and I know I out-work all the other guys in training.

"Making the British team is always hard - that's why I make sure I know how to win races from the front, the middle and the back, and I make sure I understand all the boys. It's good we have so many running well."

Overcoming injury and Covid

Based in Brighton under the guidance of Jon Bigg, Giles' form is testament to his resilience after a challenging winter which featured fractured sleep in the early days of new fatherhood, two consecutive injuries and testing positive for coronavirus.

"I didn't sleep a wink for the first six weeks as a new dad and because of that I twice tore my calf in November, but I'm very lucky that my partner Meg now does the nights with the baby so I can recover well from training," said Giles.

"After training in South Africa, I caught Covid in January but luckily bounced back quickly after two weeks. We then went to Dubai in February and got engaged there."

With daughter Erin now five months old, Giles' focus has changed.

"Being a dad has made me think I want to earn decent money to support my family so that's why I run an e-bike business," he said.

"I want to give her the best possible life and she gives me a nice anchor that I'm running for more than just myself now.

"The business is going well with lots of customers and it's good to be busy outside of the running."

Medals in exciting year the aim

Twelve months ago in Poland, Giles unexpectedly sped to an eye-catching British indoor record of one minute 43.63 seconds to eclipse Seb Coe's illustrious 38-year-old mark.

In the summer he went on to register personal bests over the half mile and metric mile respectively, but medals have so far eluded him.

"That 1:43 was great but I always focus on the current rather than the past - the time got me nothing apart from bragging rights," insisted Giles.

"There's still a tonne of doors to unlock and I know I can get better."

Following a motorbike crash in 2014 which left him with temporary brain damage and a knee so badly damaged he had to learn to walk again, Giles enjoyed his athletics breakthrough with bronze at the outdoor European Championships in 2016.

But he exited the heats of the Rio Olympics and the semi-final stage of the 2015 and 2017 outdoor World Championships - and narrowly missed a spot in the Olympic final in Tokyo last August.

Giles missed out on a place in the Olympic 800m final after coming third in his semi-final

"I know I messed up the Olympics. My tactics were sound but I had some heavy-hitters in my semi-final," Giles explained.

"I've put it to bed and I came into the sport quite late so I know I'll continue to get better over the next five years.

"We've tailored my training for strength for the 1500m so that's why I'm not as quick over 800m this year. I've just not had the opportunity to be pushed in the longer event yet.

"I do have a funny feeling I'll be better over 1500m. The summer will be exciting - the 1500m excites me and I welcome having a go at getting some scalps in that event."

A busy summer features the World Championships in Eugene in July followed by the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham shortly afterwards, and then Munich's European Championships in August - and Giles is relishing a shot at the triple podium challenge.

"I know doing the three champs won't emotionally drain me so I want to have a crack at it and also do the 1500m at the Commonwealth's," he revealed.

"There's enough of a gap between the competitions and I'd be way more beat up from training than doing all those races anyway.

"Last year was all about learning to run 1:44 as that wins you a medal so it's now just about winning big races - it's purely about the medals this year."

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