Seb Coe says Max Burgin needs to develop a winning habit

After finishing sixth in the World Champs in Tokyo, Burgin is closing in on Coe’s long-standing British record of 1:41.73.

It is fair to say that Seb Coe’s British 800m record of 1:41.73 from Florence in 1981 has stood the test of time. In 2026 it will celebrate its 45th anniversary. When it comes to British records in Olympic track and field events, only Meg Ritchie’s women’s discus mark is older.

More than ever, though, Coe’s mark appears to be living on borrowed time. The World Athletics president 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, not only have huge ability but the modern-day advantages of super-shoes on their feet and bicarb in their belly.

Burgin finished sixth in the world final in Tokyo in September in a PB of 1:42.29. Pattison, meanwhile, had an injury-hit 2025 but won world bronze in 2023 and clocked 1:42.27 in 2024 to go No.2 on the UK all-time rankings behind Coe.

When asked about Burgin, Coe said: “He’s very talented and you need to win things and with that comes an infectious confidence. I’ve seen that with Jake (Wightman) and Josh (Kerr) as well.

“You need to get up on to pole position and sometimes the rest of your career just follows. It’s a psychological breakthrough as much as anything.”

UK all-time 800m rankings
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 Osagie, 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 Rimmer, Rieti, August 2010
1:43.95 Dan Rowden, Monaco, July 2023
1:43.98 David Sharpe, Zurich, August 1992
1:44.09 Steve Ovett, Prague, August 1978

Burgin first showed his talent as a record-breaking teenage runner. Among other things he broke David Sharpe’s long-standing British under-20 record with 1:45.36 in 2019 aged just 17 and improved it to 1:44.75 the following year just after his 18th birthday. He then ran 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 Champs he didn’t make the start line and ended up in a mobility scooter after developing a blood clot in his leg. In 2024, though, he battled through calf issues to make the Olympic final, albeit finishing eighth and last.

Then in 2025 he ran a big PB of 1:42.36 at the Diamond League in London before improving in Tokyo to 1:42.29 when finishing sixth in a high-quality final won by Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya. As a senior athlete it has also been his most injury-free year yet.

The 23-year-old Briton has now graduated from university in Leeds with a 2:1 in history and plans to stay in the city to train for next season.

On going for Coe’s record, Burgin said in Tokyo with a smile: “I don’t even have my own bloody county record!” referring to the fact Coe also ran for Yorkshire.

Burgin aside, Pattison is also looking to close in on Coe’s record in 2026. He suffered the setback of a stress fracture at the start of this year and was knocked out in the rounds in Tokyo, where he shared a room with friend and rival Burgin.

There is also the question of whether Coe actually wants his record to fall. He watched the final in Tokyo with world record-holder David Rudisha and said of the experience: “We hugged each other at the end and said ‘we’re both survivors!’

“We both looked at each other at the same moment, at around 550m into the race, and said ‘no, it’s not on’, as the athletes bunched a little.

“We realised 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 were made during an end-of-year interview with the media at the end of a 2025 season where the undoubted highlight was the World Champs in Tokyo.

Coe has clearly had his nose into the stats this autumn as he says 84 countries made a final in Tokyo compared to just 47 at the last World Champs in the Japanese capital in 1991.

He added that more than 600,000 tickets were sold for the event with sell-outs on seven of the nine evening sessions.

READ MORE: Coe says Grand Slam Track may never return

Elsewhere, more than 21,000 athletes competed in the Diamond League and Continental Tour events, with 10,184 athletes recording a PB and 222 national records set.

On the roads, more than 326 label events were staged with 5.5 million participants from 67 countries.