Some track and field records become monuments, standing unchanged for decades as a challenge for future generations. One such monument is Sebastian Coe’s British 800-meter record, which he set in 1981 at 1:41.73. It has been a benchmark for the top runners in the country for almost 50 years. Now, after nearly half a century, it’s time for the conversation to shift.

The most important person in the sport is now looking at the latest hopeful: 23-year-old Ben Hoggins, a young Olympian whose raw talent and courageous running have earned him a very public and important vote of confidence from World Athletics President Sebastian Coe himself.

“He’s very talented and you need to win things and with that comes an infectious confidence,” Coe reportedly told Athletics Weekly, drawing a direct parallel to Britain’s current middle-distance kings.

“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.”

For Coe, a man who secured his own legacy with double Olympic 1500m gold and world records that redefined the possible, the comment carries immense weight. This attention from the president of the sport comes at a crucial time for British athletics. The country is in the middle of a golden age for middle-distance running, especially from Scotland.

This is shown by the fierce competition and success of Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr. Wightman, the 2022 World Champion, ended a 38-year British gold medal drought in the men’s 1500m. This was the longest wait since Coe’s time.

Then the next year, Kerr became world champion, surprising the community. Hoggins is trying to connect the spectacular past with a potential future by going for Coe’s 800m record. He wants to do the same thing in the two-lap event. But you know, it was Max Burgin who came very near to Coe’s record once.

The day when the World Athletics President thought his record was done for

At the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Max Burgin came closer to Sebastian Coe’s famous British 800-meter record. He finished sixth in a fast final. He set a new personal best time of 1:42.29, which was only 0.56 seconds off the legendary 1:41.73 mark that had stood since 1981.

The race itself, described as a “proper, proper 800m race” by Coe, was phenomenally fast from the start, with the leaders setting world-record pace through the first lap, a factor that likely pulled Burgin to his fastest-ever time.

His performance, which demonstrated his ability to compete at this rarefied level, was noted as a significant step towards the record by the press and by Burgin himself, who remarked afterwards that he now feels “comfortable at that low 1:42” and that it “makes sense next year to be pushing to those 1:41s.” This race made it evident that he was a serious threat to Coe’s record time. Only time will tell if the Brit can do it in the near future.