Gourley 'pretty excited' by Glasgow 2026 mile events

Olympian Neil Gourley is "pretty excited" about the prospect of competing over a mile at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The Scot, who reached the final of the 1500m in Paris last summer, has warmly greeted the decision to replace his usual event with a distance last run at the competition in 1966.

Glaswegian Gourley says it's "quite right" to put the spotlight on middle-distance running, over which Scots have enjoyed success in recent times, with Josh Kerr, Laura Muir, Jemma Reekie and Jake Wightman all global medallists.

"I think it is something that it is probably quite right to put a bit of a highlight on," the 30-year-old said.

"I am looking forward to it. It is not a huge change, but it is ever so slightly more endurance-focused, being 1609m as opposed to 1500m. And you start on a curve as opposed to on a straight, so it is just subtle differences.

"But you are going to end up with the same kind of people winning medals anyway, so it is not like a massive paradigm shift. I think it will be a fun little change."

Glasgow stepped in to host a scaled-back Commonwealth Games next year after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out because of spiralling costs.

"I think Glasgow will do a great job," Gourley added. "I think it is important that we do to save this Commonwealth Games movement. I think we will do a good job."

Gourley is hoping the Games "is third time lucky" in terms of achieving his dream of competing at a major championships in his home city.

He missed the 2019 European Indoor Athletics Championships through illness, before injury ended his hopes of competing at last year's world indoor event at the Emirates Arena.

"I have twice now tried to compete in a championship in Glasgow and it hasn't worked for the best," he said.

"It is a really big deal for me. I feel it is something in my career that I have been missing and one I need to put right.

"I would like the opportunity to compete in Glasgow in front of my people - my family, my friends, people that were going to be at the world indoors last year before I had to give all those tickets away."

Injury hampered Gourley's dreams of glory last year, with the Scot admitting it was a tough time.

Last February, he was barely able to walk because of a back injury but recovered enough to qualify for his first Olympics, finishing 10th in the 1500m final.

Now he is focused on next month's European Indoor Athletics Championships in the Netherlands.

The US-based Scot won his first major international medal – a 1500m silver – at the event two years ago. And, after his bid to repeat that, he will turn his attention to September's World Championships in Tokyo.

"I would like to win a global medal," Gourley said. "That is something I haven't done yet, so that's the overarching goal this year.

"The European Indoors is a building block to that. It goes hand in hand with how high the level is in Europe right now, so I would like to win a medal there. I know it is something I am capable of."