‘MY APPRENTICE IS OVER’

CHARLIE GRICE HAS MADE FINALS AT EACH OF THE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THE FIVE-TIME BRITISH 1500M CHAMPION TELLS JESSICA WHITTINGTON WHY NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE THINGS UP ANOTHER NOTCH

PICTURES: MAGDI FERNANDES/NIKE & MARK SHEARMAN

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Rio finalist: The Brighton Phoenix athlete placed 12th on his Olympic debut

CHARLIE GRICE isn’t satisfied, but elite athletes rarely are. It’s that determination – that drive – to always go quicker, push harder, jump higher, throw further.

When we meet at a Nike event in London, the middle-distance talent is just starting to reflect on an Olympic year which has seen him run faster than ever before, gain great experience and, impressively at the age of just 22, complete the set of making finals at each of the major championships. But, when continually striving for more, there always seems to be a ‘but’.

“Saying rollercoaster is so clichéd, though this year has had its up and downs,” Grice smiles. “It worked out well in the end, but it could have been so much better.”

Despite illness over the winter which required visits to parasite specialists after he picked up an infection while training in Ethiopia, plus an injury-sustained in the summer, the Brighton Phoenix athlete never let go of his goals. After retaining the British indoor 1500m title, Grice competed at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Eugene but was disappointed to miss out on the final. A couple of months later the Jon Bigg-coached runner had a superb start to the summer, clocking an almost two-second PB over the mile at the Prefontaine Classic.

Race face: Charlie Grice is looking to compete for medals during the next Olympic cycle

In June Grice won his third outdoor British 1500m title before a 3:33.60 PB at the Monaco Diamond League took almost two seconds off his previous best and put him in the top 10 on the UK all-time list. Meanwhile, an 800m at the London Anniversary Games saw him clock another lifetime best of 1:45.53 – almost a second and a half quicker than he had run for the distance before this year. Then came his Olympic debut.