Georgia Bell: “I want both British 1500m records” – AW

The Olympic 1500m bronze medallist will attempt to break Laura Muir’s national indoor mark of 3:59.58 at the Keely Klassic

At last summer’s Paris Olympics, Georgia Bell ran an astonishing 3:52.61 to secure an Olympic 1500m bronze medal in the French capital.

The 30-year-old not only obliterated her personal best again – her quickest mark in 2023 was 4:06.20 – but she set a British 1500m record, bettering Laura Muir’s 3:53.79 from the Paris Diamond League.

After an incredible four months as a professional runner Bell, who worked 10-hour days in cybersecurity, has now shut down the laptop and turned to athletics on a full-time basis.

Coached by both Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, the Brit recently returned from a training camp in South Africa and is now into the full swing of the indoor season.

Bell opened her 2025 campaign up last weekend at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston, clocking a personal best of 8:36.96 for sixth in the 3000m.

She will also compete in the prestigious Wanamaker Mile at Saturday’s Millrose Games in New York City, aiming to follow in the footsteps of Muir, Hannah England and Wendy Sly.

Bell’s greatest love however is the 1500m and, at the Keely Klassic, the Brit will try to break Muir’s national 1500m indoor record of 3:59.58.

If Bell can better Muir’s mark – set in a race which saw Guduf Tsegay create history in Liévin four years ago – then she will hold both British 1500m records.

Ahead of the Keely Klassic, AW caught up with Bell on everything from her ultimate ambitions this season to the importance of engagement with fans in athletics.

How did training generally go in South Africa? 

It was a really hard camp. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the longest camp I’ve ever done and only the second one as a full-time pro. But this one felt like everyone was put through their paces. I feel like it’s stepped up from where I was last year.

The bar now is so high across the whole group and that’s because the expectations are great for us. Everyone survived it which is great! Now we start racing.

We need to improve every year. Trevor [Painter] is the man with the plan and he’s introduced a few new sessions ahead of this season, which has pushed all of us to the limit.

When you reflect on 2024, what have been the biggest changes when you think about this season? 

When I look back at trying to do all of that training and then rushing back to take calls, I can’t quite believe I managed to do it for so long. It was pretty unsustainable to try and juggle both. So I can now go to the ice baths and physio appointments after camp – including sleeping before the next session – whereas last year I wasn’t able to do that on a consistent basis.

Being a full-time athlete has made me more relaxed and less stressed out. The main thing is that I can now fully focus on the track and not have to balance up the running with a 10-hour day job.

Georgia Bell (Getty)

How are you feeling for the 2025 season? 

I’m excited to see how it goes. Last season obviously exceeded all expectations and I was so happy with everything. It’s now set a very high bar for me. I’m intrigued to see what will happen with all of the things that were added in training. Let’s see how that translates on the track.

How ready do you feel to break the British indoor 1500m record? 

I really want to hold both records and that was one of my goals for this year. There is already so much pedigree in the UK with British middle-distance running and I want to put myself in the history books. Claiming both the national indoor and outdoor record would be really special.

Training has been going really well and we’ve already looked at the kind of lap times that I’d need to break the record. It certainly seems like it’s a possibility for the shape that I’m in right now but I know that it won’t be easy at all. I respect the challenge and it will be a massive push for me in Birmingham.

Georgia Bell, Keely Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie (Getty)

How significant is an event like the Keely Klassic? 

After the Olympics, people always get more interested. Those fans then want to see which events those athletes will be competing in. A lot of those events are abroad, so having meets like the Keely Klassic, where people can support domestic athletes, is really cool.

I just think the idea of a meet, where athletes will be going for records, will really light up the arena. It’s such a fun thing for the crowd to get behind and I think it will be an electric atmosphere.

It’s also important to bring more of the athletes’ personalities to the fans. I think it’s currently difficult for fans to follow the journey of a specific athlete in the sport at the moment. You know, if you have a favourite athlete then you’ll want to see them as much as possible.

For example, someone might compete at the London Diamond League or the UK Athletics Championships, otherwise you’ll have to catch them abroad.

How special was BBC Sports Personality of the Year for Keely Hodgkinson, Trevor Painter, Jenny Meadows?

On Trevor and Jenny [winning the coaching award], I feel like the coaches are the ones behind the scenes who don’t often get the recognition they deserve. They are like parents to all of us and we go to them for absolutely everything. So it was so special for the team.

The fact that Keely won BBC Sports Personality of the Year against so many athletes in ‘bigger’ sports just goes to show how much people were into the Olympics. It captured everyone’s hearts and imaginations. Those same people who watched Keely then voted for her and it was amazing.

How important is digital media in getting the next generation involved in athletics? 

I find it really interesting following the journeys of other athletes on social media and how they’re getting on. We’ve now got an Instagram page at M11 Track Club and people have said to me ‘wow, I had no idea what it took to become a world class athlete’.

Lina Nielsen also said to me that she watched a video snippet from one of our sessions at M11 Track Club. She was intrigued how it went and asked loads of questions about all of it. We want to provide as much insight as possible and hopefully that translates into getting support.

Georgia Bell (Getty)

Are you planning to 27 races again this season or are you going to be a bit more selective about what you do this year? 

I said to Trev ‘we’re probably not going to be doing 27 races again’ and he was like ‘no’. I think a lot of last year, especially towards the beginning, was about proving myself in the sport. So that translated to a lot of extra races.

I love racing though. They’ll be elements of the year that we have to get a training block in and that will be a period where you don’t compete. After that, I want to race as many times as I can.

I’ll do a a mixture of races throughout the summer, with the ultimate goal of course being the Tokyo World Championships.

Georgia Bell (Getty)

What’s your big ambition for the 2025 World Championships and what do you make of the strength in depth of the 1500m? 

The depth is insane. Everyone is so good and getting better. I’d obviously look to improve on my third place [at Paris 2024] last year. I really want to medal at every championships I go to.

The schedule in Tokyo is also really interesting with the 1500m being first. Then the 800m is afterwards, with a few days of recovery between the two disciplines. We [myself and Trevor] have discussed the possibility of doubling at the Worlds. I’d obviously have to earn my place in the 800m, and domestically it’s ridiculously competitive, but the schedule does accommodate for both.

If we get to September and I’m feeling in incredible shape then I’d love to try it but I’d need to earn my spot in the 800m and that’s no joke. How special would it be to have, and I’m not saying this is easy or possible, a British 1-2-3 in the 800m in Tokyo?

Jessica Hull, Faith Kipyegon and Georgia Bell (Getty)

Are you aiming to do both the European and World Indoors, essentially peaking twice this year? 

Yes. This year I want to win as many medals as possible, which means doing all the championships that are available to compete in. Any opportunity that I can get some hardware, I want to try.

How quick do you think you can go over 1500m this season?

I think being in a fast race will be where the quick times come, especially with someone like Faith Kipyegon pushing everything on from the front. The thing is, if I can run 3:52/3:53 this year again, that will still be a huge achievement.

It’s going to be hard because that was such a high bar set in Paris. Last year, I didn’t know what was possible and that’s my mindset going into this season as well. I’m just trying to not put any limits on myself and just see where I end up after training. It’s then about getting in the right races and just committing on the track.

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