GB one-two in Tokyo 800m 'would be coolest thing'

Georgia Hunter Bell remembers it well, not least the comically oversized vest.

The feeling of knowing she was going to win her first ever track race as she passed everyone - girls and boys - on the final lap.

Listening as her mum was told that 800m in two minutes and 39 seconds was "pretty good" for a 10-year-old.

It all remains vivid, more than two decades later, as Britain's Olympic 1500m bronze medallist prepares to complete a full-circle moment in pursuit of another global podium.

The dilemma over whether to stick with the 1500m, switch focus to the 800m, or even attempt a rare double, had continued to occupy her mind just a few weeks before the World Championships began in Tokyo.

But after making exciting progress this season in the event which she originally showed great promise before she quit the sport for five years, Hunter Bell's decision to target the 800m in Tokyo has set up a tantalising gold-medal showdown with training partner Keely Hodgkinson in Sunday's final (11:35 BST).

The pair went head-to-head over the two-lap event at the Lausanne Diamond League in August, where Hodgkinson achieved back-to-back wins on her return from injury.

"This year will be the first time that it might be close," Hunter Bell told BBC Sport before that race.

"We do a lot of training together, we obviously are very good friends and we have a great team vibe.

"At the end of the day, if Great Britain could win two medals out of three, and [our training group] M11 could go one-two, that would just be the coolest thing ever.

"We're all excited about the opportunity, rather than seeing it as anything negative."

Such was her dilemma about which event to contest in Tokyo, Hunter Bell considered attempting an ambitious double.

Only four women in history have made the podium in both the 800m and 1500m at a single World Championships, including Dame Kelly Holmes, from whom Hunter Bell sought advice before making her decision.

She described the quandary as "head versus heart", while her team even resorted to consulting Chat GPT on her behalf as her decision deadline loomed.

The verdict? 'The double is feasible but risky'.

Unlike when Holmes achieved her Olympic double at Athens 2004, the 1500m took place before the 800m in Tokyo.

Ultimately, a schedule of six races in nine days would have demanded Hunter Bell contest three 1500m rounds before the event in which form suggested she would have a greater medal chance.

Hunter Bell has taken the long way round since she proudly wore the colours of Ealing, Southall and Middlesex in her first track race back in 2004 - two weeks after Holmes' second triumph in Athens.

Her journey from quitting the sport she had fallen out of love with to making the Olympic podium on her debut, via a Parkrun-inspired comeback, was one of the standout Team GB success stories in Paris last summer.

But Hunter Bell hopes that is just the start, with this her first year as a full-time athlete after she left her cybersecurity job of seven years following a summer sabbatical to pursue her Olympic dream.

It is a seismic change - one which she says has left her "still pinching myself".

Back under the guidance of her former coach Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, herself a world 800m medallist, Hunter Bell has rapidly established herself among the world's best middle-distance runners.

Under the husband-and-wife team, Hunter Bell added world indoor 1500m bronze in March - while she says she is also grateful for her "hard lesson" at the European indoors, where she started favourite but missed out on a medal.

"Originally, Trev believed he could make me into a world-class 800m athlete. He always said that," explains Hunter Bell.

"This year we were just doing the normal 1500 training but, when we got to the speed stuff, Trevor and Jen were flagging that I was looking a lot better in that."

An English Schools and British Universities champion, Hunter Bell achieved impressive Diamond League 800m wins in Stockholm and London this season.

Having witnessed first hand - and assisted in - Hodgkinson's recovery from the hamstring injuries which have kept her out this year, Hunter Bell always expected her team-mate to be back to her best for the championships when making her final decision.

"She has dealt with it really well," Hunter Bell says on Hodgkinson's challenging year.

"Whenever anyone gets an injury it can be really tough. It's just about trying to make it as positive as possible, while also being realistic, and as a team we've all just tried to be really supportive."

On handling the potentially awkward issue of two athletes in the same training group targeting the same gold, she adds: "Trev and Jenny are very jokey, they keep the training environment fun. But obviously, when we step on the track, it's all business.

"They will always advise what they think is best for the individual athlete and then let the chips fall where they may.

"We're very lucky to be being led by them."