Hunter Bell considers bold middle distance double

A lightbulb moment for Georgia Hunter Bell occurred at the Stockholm Diamond League earlier this year.

- JACK RATHBORN

The Olympic 1500m bronze medallist was dropping down in distance to the 800m, sharpening up in an event she is also comfortable racing in. But over the final 100m at another Olympic Stadium, following that famous night last year at the Stade de France, the 31-year-old unlocked a new weapon.

From sixth to first, Hunter Bell stunned the field by stealing the win with a surge from the very edge of lane three, taking almost a second out of 2023 800m world champion Mary Moraa with a 14.1-second kick over the last 100m to post 1:57.66.

The training partner to Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, who is still to make her season debut, suddenly had a dilemma. Race the event that delivered her a fairytale high in Paris, or capitalise on that deadly combination of strength and, now, a sizzling finish over two laps.

“I feel like winning medals is the most important thing,” Hunter Bell tells the Independent. “So I would rather win a medal in one than, like, come fifth or make the final in both. That’s kind of cool, but there’s nothing better than winning a medal.