Tokyo 2025 preview #6, Georgia Hunter-Bell chooses the Women’s 800
Especially from a British perspective, the women’s 800 meters is a really intriguing race. Keely Hodgkinson, The 2024 Olympic champion is the outstanding favourite. Injured for most of this season she has only run twice but the recorded the staggering times of 1:54.74 and 1:55.69. Imagine what she could run if she was race fit!
What makes the rate even more intriguing is that Georgia Hunter Bell, 2024 Olympic bronze medalist at 1500 has opted for the 800m not the 1500m in Tokyo. Keely and Georgia are training partners with the same coach. I’m intrigued as to how they will prepare for the rest? Will they have lunch together, sit on the bus together on the way to the stadium and warm up together? Or will they blanked each other all day? I remember talking to Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie about the occasions when they we’re in the same race and had the same coach they told me that they would discuss their race plan with their coach individually but would not talk to each other about the race.
In a recent briefing for UK athletics writers, Georgia shared with us the process by which she had decided on the 800. She told us that she had considered seriously doubling up as well as sticking with the 1500 before opting just to do the 800m. (As an example of what I mean, when she spoke to us last week she was at a training camp – where her roommate was a certain Keely Hodgkinson!)
There was a real possibility of the double – remembering Kelly Holmes winning both in the 2004 Olympics. Georgia explained the doubts they had about the double: “Doing six races in nine days in the humidity with how late the races were as well, was a bit of a concern of mine as I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t sleep for the whole night after the 1500m final at 10pm by the time you have media, anti-doping, physio, all of that stuff. And that would really impact me for the 800, even if I tried my very best to be on recovery, it just logistically would be really tough”.
Having decided to choose one – which one? “The dilemma came from being “in a potential: “medal fighting position across both”. She admitted that there was no easy answer “So it was just a lot of analysis. We spoke to a few different people. But ultimately, the decision was made with me, Jen and Trev, and my husband coming up with the decision. And now I can just lock into the 800, that we believe is the best one this year”.
The nature of the events, the timing, the process for reaching the final were all factors. “The 800 and 1500 are different. I think the 800 heats are definitely a lot more brutal than the 1500. Like 1500 metres is pretty generous, usually the top five to go through. So you do have the room to make a mistake and come back. Whereas in the 800 metre semifinals, there is no room for error. It’s only the top two. That definitely went into the decision of meaning that you have to be coming in 100% ready to go. You can’t be exhausted”.
Georgia also stressed that the decision was for 2025 only : “So I will definitely be back to the 1500. But every year you’ve got to make the right decisions at the right time based on what everyone else in the world is doing as well. For example if when Faith Kipyegon does move up from the 1500 to the 5k”.
Georgia also told is that she had had a 30m call with Kelly Holmes: “It was both what she did to recover between the rounds and with physio and what she would say with making sure people had drinks in their media section post-race. So there are a few logical things to take away.
Also just advice on managing the emotions. It’s a lot of adrenaline and big highs and lows with competing through the rounds. She had lots of helpful advice there, which I really appreciated.
believing that they can win. That’s just how it goes. But we are just feeling very supported and empowered to be in this position.
Of course the race won’t just be between Keely and Georgia. GB would hope for Jemma Reekie to be there as well – fourth in Tokyo Olympics and fastest non-qualifier for the Paris Olympic final. Then there’s Audrey Werro, who won the Diamond League final in a Swiss record of 1:55.91. Tsige Duguma, Mary Moraa, Prodence Sekgodiso are also well- capable of being in the medals. It is certainly a race to look forward to.
