Innes FitzGerald runs 8:48.30 in indoor 3000m
Innes FitzGerald has started her 2025 campaign in some style after running 8:48.30 for an indoor 3000m at a British Milers Club meeting in Cardiff (January 12).
The British teenager knocked over 15 seconds off her personal best – her previous mark was 9:04.87 – and bettered the European under-20 record of 8:49.65, set by Azerbaijan's Layes Abdullayeva in 2010.
As a result, FitzGerald also went quicker than Zola Budd's British junior record for the distance indoors, which was 8:56.13 from 1985.
However, FitzGerald's run can't be ratified as an official European or British junior record as it occurred in a mixed race.
Last month, the 18-year-old retained her under-20 title at the European Cross Country Championships, beating compatriot Jess Bailey by 11 seconds in Turkey.
"There was definitely a lot of pressure on me and I felt a lot of nerves earlier on but if anything, that gave me lots of fuel to push it on and try and enjoy it," FitzGerald told AW after winning.
Last season, the teenager placed fourth in the 3000m at the World U20 Championships, clocking 8:57.01 in Peru.
That put her fifth on the UK under-20 3000m all-time list and only Budd, Steph Twell, Paula Radcliffe and Emelia Gorecka have gone quicker in the age category.
FitzGerald was also part of the Great Britain team at last year's World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade.
If she can record a mark of 8:48 or lower in an indoor 3000m, then qualification for March's European Cross Country Championships isn't out of the question as well.
READ MORE: FitzGerald and Leonard vs the ghosts of the 1980s
FitzGerald, who smashed the UK under-17 women’s 3000m record with 8:59.67 in 2022, is coached by Gavin Pavey in Devon and enjoying life as a fresher at Exeter University
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