Inverness runner Megan Keith beats Olympic qualifying standard in second event while claiming British under-23 women’s record

Inverness runner Megan Keith has achieved the Olympic Games qualifying standard in a second event.

The 22-year-old belatedly celebrated her birthday, which was earlier this week, with a record-breaking run over 5000 metres in the Diamond League fixtures in Shanghai.

Inverness Harriers life-member Keith recorded a time of 14:43.24, putting her eighth in the race standings, but that was by no means the full story.

She set a new personal best time, but also broke the long-standing British under-23 women’s record that had been held by the legendary Paula Radcliffe.

Keith now sits fifth on the all-time British rankings, with only Eilish McColgan ahead of her in the Scottish standings.

Even more than that, she has now beaten the Olympic qualifying standard, which is 14:52.00.

Already having qualified for the 10,000m, Keith now faces the prospect of doubling up at the pinnacle of track and field in Paris this summer.

Olympic nations are allowed to enter a maximum of three athletes who have met the qualifying standard into any athletics event.

As it stands, Keith is one of two Great Britain athletes in both the 5000m and 10,000m – and the only one to have qualified in both.

Over the shorter distance, Keith is joined by Jessica Warner-Judd, who won the British title over the distance in 2020 and 2021 and raced across both distances at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

In the 10,000m, it could be a Scottish double act as the other British athlete to have already met the qualifying standard is three-time Olympian, British record holder and reigning Commonwealth Games champion Eilish McColgan.

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