by Stuart Weir
Georgia Bell Wannamaker Mile winner
Georgia Bell’s win at the Millrose in 4:23.35 was a great achievement but it was also another amazing step in an unbelievable year. She said of her close win over Heather McLean “Coming round the bend with 100 to go I thought ‘I’ve got this’ but I knew I had to drive all the way to the finish. The time was slower than I expected as no one wanted to take up the pace but I think that’s OK when racing is racing. I always go into a race thinking ‘I want to win’, not ‘I want to run a British record’ but I got a PR and a win so I am over the moon.
This time last year Georgia had a regular 9-5 job in cyber security software in London. She described life as “a big juggling act to make it all happen”. Working from home a lot enabled her to train morning and evening rather than having a 2 hour compute to and from work. Let me come clean, this time last year I had never heard of Georgia Bell.
She was a good athlete in her teens top ranked 800m runner for Under 15 and Under 17 in the UK at the time. This resulted in a scholarship to University of California In Berkeley but there she kept being injured. Looking back she thinks it was due to excessive mileage. Once she left Berkeley she stopped running – “I never thought I would ever get back on a track ever again”.
When the pandemic and lockdown came she got back into running and did some Parkruns and cycling. As she started to enjoy running she got back in contact with her old coach Trevor Painter, coach of Keely Hodgkinson. She sent him some details of her times and he encouraged her to keep running and gave her training plans.
This time last year she just decided to entered some races and see where it took her. In February 2024 she ran in the GB Indoor Champs winning in 4:09.66, which confirmed her selection for the World Indoors and a 4th place finish in 4:03.47 where her assessment was: “It is a bit disappointing to come so close to the medals and just miss out”.
She was selected for the European Championships in Rome in June 2024 taking silver in 4:05.33, after which she spoke from the heart: “It sounds incredible to be a European silver medallist, I cannot stop smiling. I should be at work tomorrow morning, but I’m here competing at European Championships, so I am very happy. Even six months I would have thought you were crazy if you told me I’d win a European silver. I was unranked, unsponsored, PR in the 1500m was 4:06, which was nothing to get you anywhere near here. To see where I am now, I am very proud of myself, and I am excited for the future”.
The Olympics were now a realistic goal but the GB trials were stacked – 5 athletes already had the Olympic standard – with only the top two guaranteed a place. Georgia won – beating Laura Muir – in a tactical race in 4:10.69. Slightly overwhelmed, she commented: “It is amazing and hard to take in at the moment but I am sure it will hit me later that I have qualified for Paris”.
In fact she went to Paris twice. If the GB trials was a slow race, the Meeting de Paris Diamond League was anything but. Faith Kipyegon won in a World Record 3:49.04, Laura Muir set a new GB record. Georgia was fifth, dipping under 4 minutes for the first time – by some margin – in a time of 3:56.54.
Her last race before the Olympics was at the London Diamond League, an 800 in which she was third in 1:56.28 behind Keely Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie, with all three running PRs. Her short comment was: “I’m a Londoner so it’s cool to perform in London and I’m loving the experience. The 800m helps me with speed training for the 1500m”.
She progressed to the Olympic final with 4:00.29 and 3:59.49 before running the race of her life, breaking the GB record with 3:52.61 for bronze. As always her comments were calm and level-headed: “I only thought this week in the heats that I could medal. As long as I didn’t let the gap go and I was there I could close it. I came into the games with no pressure. Even making it to the Olympics was huge”.
She finished her season at the 2-day Diamond League final in Brussels, coming second in the 800 in 1:57.50, when she summed up her race and a remarkable season “I am happy that we are still running 1:57 this late in the season. Honestly, this season has been incredible. I had never run in a Diamond League before May. I just know that there is so much going on behind the scenes. One year ago, I would have never believed to finish second here. A lot has changed in the last six months. Just keep going, even if it’s an unconventional path, doesn’t mean it’s impossible, you just keep working and will get there. I am glad that I didn’t give up”. The following night she came back and ran in the 1500m Diamond League final finishing seventh in 3:58.95. Seventh in a Diamond League final would have been beyond her dreams a year previously, now it seemed average – but a remarkably achievement to reach two Diamond League finals and have the legs to run both in 24 hours.
And she has started 2025 with another big win.
See also The amazing story of Georgia Bell – runblogrun
Here’s a quick interview with Georgia Bell after her win at Millrose, by RunBlogRun’s Larry Eder:
