We speak to the British 10,000m champion who is developing a habit of rising to the big occasion.

After sealing selection to run the 10,000m at the European Championships in Birmingham, Izzy Fry finds herself preparing for the big event in August in the East Midlands university town of Loughborough. It was hardly love at first sight though.

“I hated the idea of Loughborough when I first visited,” she says, “but now I’ve ended up buying a house here!”

During her student days, Fry went to St Mary’s in Twickenham. But now aged 26 she has been drawn to Loughborough, where she is coached by Sonia and Chris McGeorge. Apart from occasional altitude training trips, her home is on the outskirts of the town, which she says is ideal because it means she’s not in the middle of the “student bubble”.

She is never short of training partners – and was due to meet up with Ben Pattison and Matt Stonier after our interview – and the environment is clearly working as she won the British 10,000m title in style on home soil in Loughborough in May.

“I just needed to sit in and try to win the race,” she told AW, after clocking 32:12.91 to beat Poppy Tank and Hannah Irwin. “Usually I’m the one doing the hard work on the front, but this time I had to be selfish.”

Fry is building a reputation as an athlete who rises to the occasion. A regular in the GB cross-country team, she won the world universities title in Portugal in 2022 and was the leading Brit in the 5000m at the European Championships in Rome in 2024.

“I think I naturally race better than I train,” she says. “No matter how training is going, I can usually turn it up a notch on race day.”

It is rarely plain sailing for an athlete, though. She spent the spring managing Achilles issues and is keen that she stays on top of them as the summer unfolds, especially as she has an eye on the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, too.

“You want to arrive at the championships fit, but not cooked,” she says. “The No.1 goal is just staying healthy.”

On the European Champs, she says: “I’ve got one job now: be at my peak in three months’ time. Whenever I put on a GB vest, I seem to find another level.”

Fry, who is from Newbury originally, draws comparisons with the 2022 Commonwealth Games. “I’m praying for a similar atmosphere to Eilish McColgan’s 10,000m at those Games in Birmingham,” she says. “I’ve never really experienced a packed stadium before, so that’s what I’m imagining Birmingham will feel like.”

Whatever happens on the track this summer, you are sure to see her tackling the mud again in the winter. “I love the gritty side of cross country,” she says, adding: “I didn’t realise how much I’d enjoy road racing until this winter, either. I feel lucky that I can dabble in all three – track, road and cross country. It keeps the year fresh.”

Inevitably, the marathon enters the conversation. “I know it will come at some point — I’m just not ready yet,” she says. “I’m not afraid to move up to the marathon young, but I don’t want to do it too soon. The idea of marathon training actually really appeals to me and you don’t want to wait too long if it’s the event you’ll eventually be best at.”