Fitzgerald aims for Tokyo after breaking Budd's record

Innes Fitzgerald broke the European Under-20 record that had stood since 1985

Innes Fitzgerald says she is aiming to make the Great Britain team for the World Athletics Championships after breaking the European Under-20 5,000m record.

The 19-year-old from Exeter posted a time of 14:39.56 at the London Diamond League meeting on Saturday, breaking Zola Budd's mark by more than eight-and-a-half seconds that had stood for 40 years.

The run put her fifth on the UK all-time list and is good enough to qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo next month.

The two-time European Under-20 cross country champion will be selected if she finishes in the top two at the upcoming British Championships and could still get a discretionary selection if she were not to make the top two.

"I'm going to go out there and just run to get in those top two spots," Fitzgerald told BBC Spotlight.

"I don't want to push it too early and then find that I lose out because I've pushed it too early or blown up a bit.

"Just trying to get in those top two spots I think that's the main thing, second wouldn't be a bad run, but obviously I'd love to win and having a British title to my name would be amazing."

Fitzgerald was part of the Great Britain team that competed at the European Indoor Championships in March

With the Olympic Games in Los Angeles still three years away there is still plenty of time for Fitzgerald to improve.

Under the guidance of former Great Britain runner Jo Pavey and her husband Gavin, Fitzgerald has gradually moved up the ranks over the past few years.

She is currently the second-fastest British woman over 5,000m this year behind reigning UK champion Hannah Nuttall and her latest personal best has pushed her to 33rd in the world.

"I think the sky's the limit in terms of what we're doing," the sports science student at Exeter University says.

"It's nice to see the improvements - on Saturday at the Diamond League it was great to get the time.

"We kind of went into the season with not too much expectation. We knew I could run well and getting that world qualifying time was the main aim.

"If I came away from the race having put everything in and still not coming out with the time, that wasn't necessarily a bad run, it would have still probably been a PB.

"It's a privilege to be put up there with some of those best in the world, and especially Zola Budd who ran extremely well 40 years ago, it just shows how things take time to move on and it's nice to kind of put my name against hers."

'I wish it wasn't in Japan'

But should Fitzgerald be selected for Tokyo later this summer it will come with mixed feelings.

An ardent climate change campaigner she was named Young Athlete of the Year in the 2023 BBC Green Sports Awards after she declined the chance to compete in that year's World Cross County Championships in Australia due to the environmental impact her flight around the world would have.

But she says he has reconciled the need for her to compete on a global stage with the opportunity to raise environmental concerns.

"I hate flying and that's kind of the end of it, but sometimes there are decisions you've got to make and competitions you've got to go to," she said.

"Ultimately if I go and do well it will help to raise my platform anyway and I can then speak to a broader audience about the things I care about and the issues about the climate.

"I wish it wasn't in Japan, as much as it's amazing to go to a World Championships, you've always got to have that in the back of your mind and as long as you're conscious and still talking about things I think it's okay.

"No one can ever be perfect and I think when I didn't fly to Australia it was a big move and actually the media that came off the back of that helped to amplify the story.

"Whereas I think now I've got a bit of a platform just talking about it when I do go and saying 'look we don't want to be doing this but we have to' I think it's important."