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Brit finishes sixth in 1:42.29 behind winner Emmanuel Wanyonyi and after a pleasing season he now sets his sights on Seb Coe’s British record.
Max Burgin was frustrated to finish outside the medals in the world 800m final in Tokyo, but there are still plenty of positives to take from the experience. Finishing sixth, the 23-year-old improved on his eighth place in the Olympic final last year. He ran a PB of 1:42.29. His notoriously injury-prone legs have withstood the demands of a long season. Most importantly, he managed to avoid his trademark post-race sickness into a bucket, too!
Three years ago at the World Championships in Eugene he didn’t even make the start line due to a blood clot in his leg which left him in a mobility scooter. “I was too bitter to watch the final,” he said.
On Saturday (Sept 20) in Japan it was more a case of feeling bittersweet after clocking a lifetime best but seeing gold go to Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya in a championship record of 1:41.86 as Djamel Sedjati of Algeria was runner-up in 1:41.90, Marco Arop of Canada took third in 1:41.95 and Cian McPhillips continued his sensational breakthrough with another Irish record of 1:42.15 in fourth.
Wanyonyi, the Olympic champion, led through 400m in 49.26 from Arop with Burgin third. At this point Sedjati was sixth and McPhillips adrift in seventh in 50.24. The leading trio maintained their positions down the back straight and around the final bend but Burgin found himself boxed and struggled to find the space – and energy – to burst through as he began to fall back in the home straight.
Wanyonyi held on to fend off a fast-finishing Sedjati, as McPhillips stormed from eighth to fourth in the last 100m.
“The race was fast and hard,” said Wanyonyi. “I knew it was going to be like this. I prepared myself mentally for it. I wanted to run a fast race, that’s why I went to the lead. I wanted to run my personal best here and I am happy to walk away with the championship record.”
Burgin later told AW that he planned to lead if the early pace had not been fast enough. As it turned out, he didn’t have to. Instead, he was happy with his race apart from getting a little tangled up tactically with 150m to go.
“I couldn’t really get anywhere because I placed myself too far behind and couldn’t swing wide,” he said. “By the time I did start running wide, legs were already going a bit and I let myself down there.”
He added: “At the start of the season I aimed to at least better than what I’d done at last year’s major champs. I think this race is a much more accurate reflection of what I can do. I’m happy with the effort I put in. I don’t think I could have tried much harder.”
Burgin now plans to enjoy a few days travelling around Japan with his parents and girlfriend. He has graduated from university in Leeds with a 2:1 in history and plans to stay in the city to train for next season.
With the calf and Achilles issues that bothered him in 2022-23 largely under control, he aims to increase his mileage this winter in order to be even more competitive in 2026 when he has two championships on home soil – the Europeans in Birmingham and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Like his roommate in Tokyo, Ben Pattison, he would also love to take down Seb Coe’s British record of 1:41.73 which was set back in 1981.
“I don’t even have my own bloody county record!” he smiled, with a reference to the fact Coe also ran for Yorkshire.
He has never spoken to the World Athletics president either, but Coe would surely enjoy hearing that Burgin’s next race might possibly be the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships.
As for McPhillips, he could find himself battling with Burgin and Pattison for honours at the European Championships next year. Unlike most middle-distance runners who move up in distance, McPhillips won the 2021 European under-20 title over 1500m and showed great ability at 3000m, but he has worked on his speed and now found success over two laps.
Like Burgin, he is hungry for more, too. “Fourth is a frustrating position,” he said.
