Coe’s record under threat as Burgin targets world podium

Max Burgin was always going to make sure he experienced Tokyo this month, regardless of what might have transpired.

Before making his debut for the British team at the World Championships, the record-breaking 23-year-old had booked an end-of-season trip to Japan, a nation he has always wanted to visit.

Given his issues in the past, Burgin, who will compete in the men’s 800-meter final on Saturday (14: 22 BST), does not take anything for granted.

However, it is a clear sign that everything is starting to work out for the exciting middle-distance talent in Great Britain, and the signs are very encouraging.

At the London Diamond League in July, Burgin capitalized on a elusive period of consistency to set his personal best of one minute 42.36 seconds.

David Rudisha became the third-fastest British man ever at the time, one minute and a half shy of David Rudisha’s record breaking the previous record.

The Halifax athlete now intends to enjoy his post-competition travels with a global 800m medal in his possession after finally being able to reveal his true potential after smashing world, European, and and British records as a junior.

According to Burgin, “I’ve had a lot of obstacles and haven’t necessarily advanced in the same way people had hoped for me in the past.”

“But I’d like to believe that I’ve overcome many of the difficulties that have plagued me for the past five or six years.

As Burgin broke through while competing in the 800m with Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, comparisons were made to British middle-distance greats Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram.

Since then, their careers have largely changed, with Burgin worried that his early promise would “gave away” due to a combination of injuries and bad luck.

He continues, “Our development had many similarities,” adding that. Evidently, both her and mine’s careers have exploded in recent years.

“But knowing that I have that same kind of ceiling and what she’s accomplished definitely gives me confidence. Knowing that I will be able to ascend there in the future.

His coach, his father Ian, and Burgin have both grown accustomed to setting short-term goals.

Due to hamstring and groin injuries, the two-time British champion missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and missed 12 months.

The fastest man in 2022 was denied the chance to compete for a world medal after a calf issue was later discovered to be deep vein thrombosis.

Burgin has kept his medal ambitions a secret, even to the point where he has advanced to a new major final.

Given that the current generation is anticipated to soon surpass Kenyan Rudisha’s 1: 40.91, which was previously thought to be untouchable, will be a difficult task to accomplish.

However, among the eight world finalists, Burgin, who is renowned for his fearless racing style, will have the fastest time of the season among the fastest competitors.

In addition to splitting Olympic gold medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi and reigning world champion Marco Arop, who finished second in the Diamond League final, he will gain more confidence by doing so with the event’s best throughout the season.

Since 1981, Lord Coe’s British record of 1: 41.73 has been in place, but Burgin and Ben Pattison, the first British men to compete in the 800m since 1987 but were excluded from the semi-finals, are quickly coming close to doing so.

As Burgin works toward the medals his talent has long promised, he is now firmly on his radar because he has already taken a second more than a second off of his personal best this year.

Not least of all because he acknowledges that is the standard for performance needed to compete in the hunt.

According to Coe, “It seems feasible at the moment.”

When you’re reducing to these faster times, “0.6 seconds is a lot,” but it’s not impossible.