Megan Keith (born 23 April 2002) is a British

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete and cross country runner. She was the 2023 European U23 champion over 5,000 metres and won a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It was the third time Italy staged this sporting event after the inaugural 1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 edition in T ...

Career

Early career

During her teenage years, Keith competed in

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

and won European and World Youth Championship gold medals in the sport, before starting to focus on running at around the ages of 16-17. In 2018, at her international orienteering debut, she became the first ever female to win a gold medal for Great Britain at the European Youth Orienteering Championships in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, winning the sprint event by a huge margin of 34 seconds. In 2019, Keith went on to be part of the British relay team that won the

Junior World Orienteering Championships The Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) are an annual orienteering competition. They were first held in 1990. Entry is open to national teams aged 20 and below as of 31 December in the year of competition. Representative countries mu ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, the first ever British gold medal in the competition. Following this success, Keith won Scottish Young Sportswoman of the Year at the

Scottish Women in Sport Scottish Women in Sport (SWiS) is a charity founded in 2013, which advocates for inclusive gender equality in sport in Scotland. Aim SWiS promotes equality and parity across all aspects of sport for women and girls, including but not limited to ...

awards. Immediately after this award, Keith came 27th at the 2019 European U20 Cross Country Championship in her debut for Great Britain in athletics.

2021

An Inverness Harriers athlete, and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

student, Keith ran a new personal best at the

2021 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 13th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was planned to be held in Bergen, Norway from 8 to 11 July., but this venue was c ...

held in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, running 9:16.50 in the 3000m. Keith won gold at the European U20 Cross Country Championship in Dublin in December 2021.

2022

In 2022, she became the British under-23 3000m champion as well as Scottish Under-23 Cross Country Champion. In December, she finished second in the

2022 European Cross Country Championships The 2022 European Cross Country Championships was the 28th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes. It was held on 11 December 2022 in La Mandria Park near Turin, Italy. Italy became the first country to have stag ...

under-23 race, in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

2023

In February 2023, Keith was named in the Great Britain squad for the

2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships The 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships took place on 18 February 2023 in Bathurst, Australia. It was the event's 44th edition and the second time after Auckland in 1988 that the championships were held in Oceania. In March 2020 t ...

in Bathurst, Australia, where she placed 53rd. She was selected as part of the Great Britain team for the

2023 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 14th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty three. The event was organized by European Athletics Association and held from 13–16 Ju ...

held from in July 2023 in

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, Finland. She won the 5000m gold medal ahead of Spaniard Maria Forero and compatriot Eloise Walker. In July 2023, competing at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

event in London, she set a new 5000m personal best time of 14:56.98. She was chosen to represent Great Britain at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in August 2023. She won the Cardiff Cross Challenge in November 2023. She won the U23 race at the 2023 European Cross Country Championships in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in December 2023 and also claimed gold as part of the British squad which won the U23 team event.

2024

In January 2024, she set a European U23 record running in the Valencia 10K as she posted a time of 31.22m beating a record set by German athlete

Alina Reh Alina Reh (born 23 May 1997) is a German Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She won the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2018 European Athletics Championships. At the European Athletics U23 C ...

in 2018. The run was also the third fastest by a Scots athlete over 10,000m on the road - with only Liz and

Eilish McColgan Eilish McColgan (born 25 November 1990) is a Scottish Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She is the Athletics at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2022 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres champion with the ...

having recorded faster times. In March 2024, she ran a 10,000 metres time of 30:36.84 in

San Juan Capistrano, California San Juan Capistrano (also known colloquially as San Juan or SJC) is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 35,253 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, San Ju ...

, to place fourth on the UK all-time list for the event. The event was the first time that Keith ever ran 10,000m on the track. In April 2024, she set a British under-23 record time of 14:43.24 in the 5,000m at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai. Keith secured a place in the 10,000m at 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 ...

by winning the Night of the 10,000m PBs in London on 18 May having previously achieved the qualifying standard. She was selected to run the 10,000 metres for Britain at the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. She won her first senior medal taking bronze, in only her third 10,000 metres race on the track in a time of 31:04.07. Keith was selected to run the 10,000m at the Olympic Games in Paris. Although she also qualified for the 5000m, she was not selected. In the 10,000m final, Keith finished in last place after sustaining an ankle injury, being lapped by the leaders and receiving a time of 33:19.

2025

She competed over 5000m at the

2025 Golden Gala The 2025 Golden Gala was the 44th edition of the annual outdoor track and field meeting in Italy. Held on 6 June at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, it was the fifth leg of the 2025 Diamond League – the highest level international track and field c ...

in Rome, part of the

2025 Diamond League The 2025 Diamond League is the sixteenth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The competition is a revision to the top level athletics series since Diamond League foundation in 2010. Th ...

. She retained her British women's 10,000m national title in Birmingham in June 2025, running a time of 31:19.88.

Personal life

At University Keith studies Sport Science and shares a flat with fellow GB athlete

Alyson Bell Alyson Bell (born 9 November 2003) is a British track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. She became British indoor champion, and Scottish national indoor record holder, over 200 metres in 2025. Early life Bell runs for Giffnock North ...

and triathlete Isla Britton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Megan 2002 births Living people Sportspeople from Inverness Scottish female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners Scottish female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners 21st-century British sportswomen Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain 21st-century Scottish sportswomen