Neil relishes arrival moment as hopeful travel reaches World Indoors podium

Monday 24th March 2025

Neil Gourley represented Scotland on the track at Loughborough back in May 2013 (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Smart run lands skipper Neil his World Indoors medal moment

By Peter Jardine, Head of Communications

My late father was somewhat fond of the perceptive saying ‘to travel hopefully is a better thing that to arrive‘*.

Dad may have been ahead of his time all those decades ago because he was definitely talking about mental development long before ‘enjoying the journey’ became the modern parlance on this particular theme.

Neil Gourley might well feel he has achieved both – the travelling hopefully and the arrival, that is – as he made his way back to Glasgow via flight connections from Nanjing, China, with World Indoors silver secreted in his baggage.

Stepping onto the Nanjing podium for the Men’s 1500m alongside multiple medallist Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen and American Luke Houser was a huge moment for the Scot named British team captain for the event.

It was the arrival, if you like, after close on two decades of dedication to continued improvement and a determination to overcome setbacks along the way.

Scroll through Neil’s career profile on the Power of 10 website and you discover his first results appear there fully 19 years ago . . . way back in 2006.

As a first year U13 athlete with Giffnock North AC, he clocked 5.01 for the 1500m as he took his first steps on the aforementioned journey.

‘The idea of me being captain of a GB and NI team at a global athletics event was alien to me as a kid,’ he said in Nanjing.

‘In fact, being on the British team wasn’t really on the radar at all in those early years. I didn’t even know if I would be good enough to run for Scotland back then.

‘I didn’t think I would get as far as I have but I’m hugely proud to have done so. I’m delighted and grateful and that people at British Athletics felt they could give me the captaincy role for the 2025 World Indoors.’

Bellahouston Park in November 2012 and Neil on the U20 podium with Luke Traynor and David Vernon (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Neil probably first crossed our own radar in his mid-to-late teens via Scottish age group championships and the Celtic Nations XC.

In November 2012, at U20 level, he was a bronze medallist at the Scottish Short Course XC Champs at Bellahouston Park in his home town of Glasgow. This was even before Lindsays sponsored our Cross Country Season.

Six months later in May 2013 he represented Scotland on the track at the Loughborough International – wearing a fetching white Kukri Scotland vest.

A couple of years on and a bronze at the European U23 Championships hinted at what might follow but even then the rollercoaster of his career began to unfold when, two years later in Poland, he missed out on the medals at his second European U23s event. He was certainly one of the favourites for that 2017 final.

Mark Pollard and myself were fortunate enough to travel to Bydgoszcz (in UK Athletics roles) and joined Neil (and Kelsey Stewart) on the long return journey.

It is an abiding memory – and an insight into his mental strength – that from Poland to Scotland he analysed that final and resolved to work harder in the race for medals and PBs.

The knocks didn’t stop there. At Glasgow 2019 at the Emirates, Neil looked in great shape in qualifying on the Friday. Come the Sunday, he had to withdraw from the final after being struck down by illness.

He missed the 2024 World Indoors in his own backyard, too, with an injury which for a frustrating few weeks made even walking difficult.

And yet, across a period, Neil has represented GB and NI at a dozen major championship events . . . and reached the final on 11 occasions. The single one he missed out on, in Oregon in 2022, was by one hundredth of a second (after having had Covid).

That’s the perfect summary of his consistency when wearing the vest and why mishap in Poland in 2017 now feels like a long time ago.

*’To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive‘ is attributed to Scottish writer, Robert Louis Stevenson.

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Montage created by Morven Bruce

Nine out of ten ain’t bad.

Gold for Jake Wightman and bronze for Laura Muir at the World Champs in Oregon in the summer of 2022 felt hugely significant at the time. Jake had usurped Jakob while Laura won her first outdoor global media.

But even so we didn’t quite realise the medal streak that was to follow for Scottish athletes.

Eight arrived in Birmingham a couple of weeks later at the Commonwealth Games and the European Champs in Munich topped off an incredible summer.

In fact, prior to the recent European Indoors, eight out of eight major championships came and went with at least one Scot on the podium.

Apeldoorn saw that run fall but Neil’s silver in Nanjing duly makes it nine out of ten. Wow!!

In the context of Scottish sport, it is pretty extraordinary and shines a light on a brilliant cohort of athletes and coaches. Their commitment to hard work (over years and years as noted above) has paid off.

Such is the highly competitive nature of track and field, there is absolutely no guarantee it will continue.

But we can but hope.

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Megan Keith and Callum Hawkins at Livingston (photos by Bobby Gavin)

Megan and Callum anchor their teams to golds at National Road Relays

Neil Gourley came through the Scottish athletics pathway like a number of others and so did Megan Keith and Callum Hawkins.

Watching those two Olympians return to their grassroots at the National Road Relays at Livingston felt like a moment to savour.

The excitement spread around the venue at St Margaret’s Academy and that interest only rose when folk saw them in their club vests and began to process what might be achieved by Inverness Harriers and Kilbarchan AAC.

Team efforts put both within striking distance of the race leaders for the last leg on Saturday – but it was still highly impressive to overturn those deficits via classy runs. And win golds for their pals.

It all added to the status of the National Road Relays and for that we’re thankful to all who entered.

There were some prominent clubs absent in either the men’s or women’s race. Or both. That can happen on occasion but there’s clear evidence that larger numbers and more depth then creates better competition. That applies across track and field, road and cross country.

In Scottish Athletics Comms, we are very much minded to give Scottish National Championship events as much profile and prominence as we can (albeit sometimes depending on the resources we have available).

We want it to feel important. Strong entry numbers help us help you in that regard.

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Tags: Callum Hawkins, Features, Megan Keith, Neil Gourley, World Indoors