George Mills insisted that a combination of patience and a fearless attitude to put himself out there led to his stunning 5,000m British record at the Oslo Diamond League.
Mills ran a sizzling 12:46.59 to finish fourth at the Bislett Games, breaking Sir Mo Farah’s previous mark of 12:53.11, a record that has stood since 2011.
And Mills, son of former England footballer Danny Mills, revealed the fundamentals behind the brilliant performance in a race won by the USA’s Nico Young in 12:45.27.
“Looking at the time, I came here wanting to run a national record and attack the European record, just missed that one, but I’m proud of how I did today,” Mills said, having put in a lot of the work to lead his rivals in the closing laps of the race.
“It was billed as a world record attempt, I was cautious, as I thought the pace would be really hot, be patient and pick people off when they started to die, that’s what I did.
“With a mile to go, I felt really good, let’s move through the field and let’s attack, with 1,200m to go, I always put my balls on the line, and that’s what happened.”
Mills, who won a European Indoor silver medal in the 3,000m behind Norwegian phenom Jakob Ingebrigtsen, is pushing for a medal at the Tokyo World Championships.
And while the -year-old remained coy on exactly what it takes, he is confident in the preparation required to give himself a chance at a first men’s British medal at a world or Olympic championship in the event since Farah at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
“I don’t know [how to win a medal at a world championship] because I’ve never done it,” Mills said candidly.
“But me and my team will work as hard as we possibly can to achieve that goal and put myself in the best position possible.
“My target for the season is a global medal and this shows I am in the right space.”
