The performances of 800m prodigy Gill have been powerful in showing other young athletes just what can be possible, writes fellow aspiring teenage middle-distance runner Nathan Davis

Sometimes you watch an athlete and know theyre special without having to see the time. Seeing a runner like that in action is a chance to sit back and enjoy not just the speed, but the efficiency and the flow.

The smooth stride, controlled arms, the composed demeanour thats what I have found to be most impressive about Phoebe Gill this summer, even more so than the times she has been running.

The results reflect the hours of hard work, training and perseverance that an athlete undertakes, but to be able to look so in control when you race requires something else: another level of dedication with regards to how you run, how you carry yourself.

I know all too well how difficult that can be. Like Phoebe, Im also 17 and, like Phoebe, my chosen event is the 800m. My PB of 1:57.69 from last summer might be a quarter of a second faster than Phoebes but, knowing the demands that running two laps quickly can take on you, I found the European under-18 record-breaking 1:57.86 she ran in Belfast earlier this year to be truly amazing and powerful.

The phrase inspiring the next generation gets thrown about a lot, but in Phoebes case I would argue she is inspiring the current generation showing those of us at a similar age what might be possible. In many ways, for me Phoebes performances in general bring home a very real sense of achievement and inspiration.

This is not a British runner who we see occasionally on the Diamond League circuit and spends the year in South Africa, Font Romeu or Flagstaff; instead, she is a local athlete representing St Albans who myself and my training partners at Luton AC see running international times.

She is now, of course, the British champion and about to become an Olympian and, in a way, her accomplishments are more real to us than those of Josh Kerr or Keely Hodgkinson because, simply, she is a lot more like us a young club athlete who is putting in the work.

Her performances have caused heads to turn and certainly offered incentive to my training group. She makes me want to race and to achieve my own aims for this season.

Ive seen Phoebe run on a handful of occasions, both at local cross country events and Watford Open Meets, and each time what has really stood out to me is the strength she possesses for a middle-distance runner.

More and more of the top 800m runners are lacking the traditional strength that would see them run through rounds and over cross country courses but, when I saw Phoebe pull away from Innes FitzGerald over 1500m, it reminded me of the considerable toll that training for the 800m takes on your body.

As an 800m runner, you have to learn that sprinters will be shocked when you match their 400m times when all you do is run laps; and distance runners will be annoyed when you beat them over 5km and cross country when all you do is speed work. Finding the balance between these two disciplines is a difficult art learning to compete with those above and below. Then when it comes to race day, its you against your peers. In the moment, its trusting in the training and Phoebe clearly trusts hers completely.

Runners talk a lot of being in the zone and Ive had plenty of conversations about what happens in our minds when the gun goes off. Phoebe has definitely been in that place this summer.

The feeling you want is to be composed through 400m and reaching the bell itching to go, to know youre in form and sensing that a time is on. Its that type of running that is easy to miss when youre injured and looking forward to racing again the thrill as you hear the bell and the excitement when your legs arent as heavy as you expected them to be.

Moving away from a field is one of the most satisfying things an athlete can do, and the way Phoebe does it reflects the common thread between her run in Belfast and winning the British title in Manchester: Im going to show everyone just how good I am.

When youth athletes run fast, the first thought that crosses most of our minds is overtraining and the concern of them falling into the trap of burnout. When Phoebe ran 2:03 at the Youth Commonwealth Games last year, I was impressed with the way she ran it, but there was a lingering sense of worry that her times were starting to stagnate and this incredibly talented runner was going to begin to plateau.

That notion was brought crashing down in two stages, however. Firstly, by her run of 2:01 two weeks after the Commonwealth Youth Games and then her 4:05 1500m in May of this year. Very clearly, she feels she has more to prove, more to build on.

Continuing to run 1:57 will make her an internationally competitive runner but, as she has now demonstrated, Phoebe is starting to get her head around tactics and winning in different ways. I, for one, think theres a lot more to come and Ill be an avid viewer, cheering her on and keen to see how she handles the challenge of Paris.

Shell be in the most elite of company, but Im also sure she will look as strong and as assured
as ever.