Georgia Bell Just Misses Out on World Championship Medal

Chiswick athlete finishes fourth in 1,500 metres final

Georgia at the starting line for Sunday's race. Picture: BBC

March 3, 2024

Hopes of a medal for Georgia Bell in the 1,500 metres final this Sunday evening (3 March) were not realised but a fourth place was still an impressive outcome for an athlete who has had very little racing experience.

The 30-year-old former St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School pupil found herself in a very tactical race at the world indoor championships in Glasgow but remained in contention right through to the last 200 metres. An Ethiopian clean sweep had been widely tipped but American Nikki Hiltz made a break for the front. She was overhauled by Freweyni Hailu but held on for second with her compatriot Emily Mackay just behind and Georgia not quite having enough in the tank to take bronze. She still managed to finishe ahead of the world mile record-holder Diribe Welteji.

Her time of 4:03.47 was just off her personal best although the variable pace set during the race made new records unlikely.

The performance marks a major step towards the Olympics in Paris this summer and, although she is still behind the qualifying time, her relatively recent return to the track and short time with her new coaches means that optimism about reaching the mark seems justified.

This is another step in a remarkable transformation for a runner who was taking part in Parkruns just two years ago.

Georgia had been identified as a talent athlete at a very early stage in her life. In her first school report, when she was four, her Nursery Teacher wrote ‘ Georgia is very good at running’ and she started taking part in organised running events when she was just ten. The father of her good friend was already involved with Ealing, Southall, Middlesex Athletics Association based at Perivale Track so took them to training on a weekly basis when they reached Year 6.

Success came quickly and regularly with local leagues, London Mini Youth Games, London Mini Marathon, Middlesex English Schools, international junior selection and ranking as the fastest U15 & U17 800m female. After success at BUCS and England U23 she moved to Berkeley in California which she said was a dream come true.

She moved away from athletics after finishing college in America and a series of injuries but returned to running and cycling during lockdown and started taking part in Parkruns as well as cycling 100 miles a week.

A particularly fast time at the Bushy Park event in 2022 prompted her to think it might be possible to return to elite athletics and she contacted her old friend her old coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, who had coached Keely Hodgkinson to an Olympic silver medal. They helped her reduce her personal best by over ten seconds in a year and she became the fourth fastest in the world this year despite still working full-time at a cyber security firm. She hadn’t abandoned cycling either winning a gold medal in her World Duathlon age group in 2023. She won the British Athletics Indoor Championships 1500m in Birmingham in February which earned her a place on Team GB for Glasgow.