Sarah Calvert

Sarah Calvert (born 29 June 2001) is a British middle-distance runner from Scotland. She won the 1500 metres titles at the 2025 and 2026 UK Athletics Championships.

Early and personal life Calvert attended Linlithgow Academy in West Lothian. She underwent an operation for the back condition scoliosis when she was 15 years-old and could not compete for a year. She won the Scottish Schools Championships at under-20 level over both 800 metres and 1500 metres in both 2018 and 2019. Her younger sister Isla is also a middle-distance runner. She later combined running with studying medicine at Edinburgh University.

Career A member of Livingston AC, she was coached in her early career by Sandra Hardacre and later by Luke Gunn.

She finished seventh over 800 metres in a personal best time of 2:05.68 at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Borås, Sweden.

She won the Scottish Athletics 3000 metres championships in June 2023. That month, she won the British U23 title over 1500 metres ahead of Alexandra Millard. She competed at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships in July 2023 in Espoo, Finland. She won Scottish titles over 800 metres and 1500 metres in August 2023, that month she set a new Scottish Native Record - the fastest time by a Scot in Scotland - for the women’s mile run at the Monument Mile Classic event in Stirling, breaking the record set by Yvonne Murray in 1985.

Calvert was announced in the initial intake of Stride Athletics "The Athlete Springboard" at the start of 2025. She then became Scottish Indoor 3000 metres champion in January 2025 with a personal best time of 9:15.67. In May 2025, she won the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) outdoor title over 1500 metres. In June 2025, she lowered her personal best for the 800 metres whilst competing in Austria, running a time of 2:00.32. She was named in the British team for the 2025 Summer World University Games in Germany, where she won the silver medal in the women's 1500 metres.

On 3 August, she became the British 1500 metres champion, after she won the event at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham in 4:16.27 finishing ahead of Laura Muir. A surprise victory, the win was described as "unbelievable, the story of the weekend, a fairytale" during the BBC Sport live commentary. On 9 August 2025, she lowered her personal best for the 1500 metres to 4:04.33 as she finished fourth at the World Athletics Continental Tour bronze meeting in Oordegem, Belgium. Also in August, she placed third at the Monument Mile in Stirling.

On 24 January 2026, she ran 1500 metres in an indoor personal best of 4:12.16 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. In May, she won the 800m in 2:01.90 at The Belfast Classic. That month, she also won over 1500 m in Rehlingen, Germany ahead of Ethiopia’s Samrawit Mulugeta and fellow Scot Jemma Reekie before placing second in the 1500 metres at the Trond Mohn Games in Bergen, behind Adele Gay of France. In June, she retained her national title in the final of the 1500 metres at the 2026 UK Championships, pulling clear in a sprint finish to run 4:07.82.

Calvert was named in the Scottish team for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, qualifying for the final of the mile run and placing seventh overall.

On 9 August 2026, she improved her best time for the 1500m to 4:02:25

Athletic Achievements Personal bests

International competitions National championships and competitions