Elliot Levi Giles (born 26 May 1994) is an English middle-distance runner from Birmingham, specialising in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

. He won a bronze medal at the 2016 European Championships and holds the current road mile world record at 3:51.3.

Career

In August 2014, he had a serious motorcycle accident which prevented him from competing for two years. His breakthrough year was 2016 when he became British champion over the distance, and was selected for the senior GB team for the first time at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

where he won a surprise bronze medal. His new personal best of 1:45.54, set in the final, qualified him for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. In Rio de Janeiro, however, he only managed seventh place in his heat which was not good enough for a place in the semifinals. In February 2021, he set a new British record for the 800 metres indoors, at the World Indoor Tour event in Torun,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. This record had stood since March 1983, when it was set by Seb Coe. Having initially missed out on selection for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, Giles was called-up as a late replacement for the injured

Jake Wightman Jake Wightman (born 11 July 1994) is a British Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, 2022 World Championships, the first global ...

. Giles reached the 800m semi-final. Giles set a new road mile world record of 3:51.3, winning the KO Meile in Düsseldorf over Yared Nuguse, on 1 September 2024, breaking Emmanuel Wanyonyi's previous mark of 3:54.6 by over three seconds.

International competitions

Circuit performances

Personal bests

Outdoor *800 metres – 1:44.56 (Doha 2020) *1500 metres – 3:30.92 (London 2023) *One mile – 3:49.16 (Oslo 2025) Indoor *800 metres – 1:43.63 NR (Torun 2021) *1500 metres – 3:36.90 (Val-de-Reuil 2021) *One mile – 3:59.71 (London 2019) Road * One mile – 3:51.3 '' WR'' (Düsseldorf 2024)

References

External links

* * * * * * * 1994 births Living people Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham English male middle-distance runners British male middle-distance runners Olympic male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century English sportsmen {{England-middledistance-athletics-bio-stub