By finishing sixth at the World Champs in Tokyo, Burgin fell short of Coe’s long-standing British record of 1:41.73.
It’s fair to say that Florence’s Seb Coe’s British 800m record of 1:41.73 in 1981 has stood the test of time. In 2026, it will celebrate its 45th anniversary. When it comes to British records in Olympic athletics, only Meg Ritchie’s women’s disc mark is older.
However, more than ever, your sign seems to be living on borrowed time. The world president of athletics has seen several generations of middle-distance runners come and go since he hung up his spikes in 1990, but the current crop, led by Max Burgin and Ben Pattison, have not only immense ability but the modern advantages of super shoes on their feet and bicarb in their bellies.
At the world finals in Tokyo in September, Burgin finished sixth with a PB of 1:42.29. Pattison, meanwhile, was injured in 2025 but won world bronze in 2023 and clocked 1:42.27 in 2024 to move second in the UK all-time rankings behind Coe.
When asked about Burgin, Coe said: “He’s very talented and you have to achieve things and with that comes an infectious confidence. I’ve seen it with Jake (Whiteman) and Josh (Kerr) as well.
“You have to get to pole position and sometimes the rest of your career just follows. It’s a psychological breakthrough like anything else.”
Great Britain’s all-time ranking in the 800m
1:41.73 Seb Coe, Florence, June 1981
1:42.27 Ben Pattison, Monaco, July 2024
1:42.29 Max Burgin, Tokyo, September 2025
1:42.88 Steve Cram, Zurich, August 1985
1:42.97 Peter Elliott, Seville, May 1990
1:43.63i Elliot Giles, Torun, February 2021
1:43.65 Jake Wightman, Brussels, September 2022
1:43.77 Andrew Osage, London, August 2012
1:43.82 Oliver Dustin, Nice, June 2021
1:43.84 Martin Steele, Oslo, July 1993
1:43.88 Tom McKean, Crystal Palace, July 1989
1:43.89 Mike Riemer, Rieti, August 2010
1:43.95 Dan Rowden, Monaco, July 2023
1:43.98 David Sharp, Zurich, August 1992
1:44.09 Steve Ovett, Prague, August 1978
Burgin first showed his talent as a record-setting teenage runner. Among other things, he broke David Sharpe’s long-standing British under-20 record of 1:45.36 in 2019 aged just 17, before taking it to 1:44.75 the following year, just after his 18th birthday. He then ran a time of 1:44.14 at the start of 2021, but missed the rest of the season with injury, something that became a theme in subsequent seasons.
At the 2022 world championships, he missed the starting line and ended up on a mobility scooter after developing a blood clot in his leg. In 2024, however, he battled calf problems to reach the Olympic final, albeit in eighth and final place.
Then in 2025 he ran a great PB of 1:42.36 at the London Diamond League before improving to 1:42.29 in Tokyo when he finished sixth in a high-profile final won by Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyon. It was also his most injury-free year as a senior.
The 23-year-old Briton has now graduated from Leeds University with a 2-1 history and plans to stay in the city to train next season.
Continuing Coe’s record, Burgin said with a smile in Tokyo. bearing in mind the fact that Coe also ran for Yorkshire.
In addition to Burgin, Pattison is also looking to equal Coe’s record in 2026. He suffered a stress fracture earlier this year and was knocked out in rounds in Tokyo where he roomed with friend and rival Burgin.
There’s also the question of whether Coe actually wants his record to fall. He watched the Tokyo final with world record holder David Rudisha and said of the experience: “At the end we hugged each other and said we were both survivors.
“We both looked at each other at the same time, about 550m into the race, and said ‘no, it’s not going’, as the athletes came together a bit.
“We realized our records were intact and then we could really watch the race. It was a proper, proper 800m race too.”
Coe’s latest comments about Burgin came during a year-end media interview at the end of the 2025 season, with the world champions in Tokyo arguably the highlight.
Kou is clearly into statistics this fall, as he says 84 countries have reached the finals in Tokyo, compared to just 47 at the last World Championships held in the Japanese capital in 1991.
He added that more than 600,000 tickets were sold for the event, and seven of the nine evening sessions were sold out.
Elsewhere, more than 21,000 athletes competed in Diamond League and Continental Tour events, with 10,184 athletes setting PBs and 222 national records.
More than 326 tag events have been staged on the road, with 5.5 million participants from 67 countries.
