Georgia Hunter Bell will next week be picked for the 800m and 1500m in Britain’s world championships team, all being well. But the dilemma over whether to actually contest both will only just have begun.
Not since Hunter Bell’s mentor Kelly Holmes claimed two memorable Olympic golds in 2004 has a British athlete even attempted the audacious middle-distance double at a global championships.
So long as Hunter Bell, the former parkrunner, finishes in the top two over 800m – and it would be an almighty shock if she does not – at this weekend’s UK Championships in Birmingham, she will secure qualification over the shorter distance alongside the guaranteed 1500m spot that comes with last year’s Olympic bronze.
“We have asked to be selected for both,” confirmed Jenny Meadows, who coaches Hunter Bell alongside her husband, Trevor Painter. “Whether she does the double or not is another thing to be seen.”
Meadows explained further: “If the 800m was first [at next month’s world championships], which is the way Kelly won it when she got the double gold in Athens, we would do the double.
“But the 1500m is first and I think it’s a harder task running three 1500m and then dropping down to the speedier event afterwards. So I’m not convinced we will double. I’m thinking we might pick one event over the other.
“She has got one more Diamond League over both events: the 1500m in Silesia on August 16 and the 800m in Lausanne on the 20th. The final selection for the British team is on August 26 so we will be letting them know after the 20th what she wants to do.
“Does she stay in both events or does she come out of one and just stick with the other? Lots of things are up in the air, but it’s a brilliant position to be in.”
That Hunter Bell, 31, is a genuine medal contender over both distances remains remarkable. A high-achieving junior, she retired from athletics for five years in 2017, and just two years ago was only contesting local meets and parkruns. Now she is the second-fastest woman in the world this year over 800m – winning Diamond League events in Stockholm and London over the distance – and fourth fastest over 1500m.
Should she choose the shorter event in Tokyo next month, she should line up alongside her training partner Keely Hodgkinson, who has not raced since winning Olympic gold last summer and is skipping this weekend’s UK Championships as she recovers from injury. The pair have spent much of the past fortnight together on a training camp in Portugal, with Hodgkinson due to return to action this month in Lausanne.
Assured of their places in Britain’s world championships team, all five individual Olympic medalists – Hodgkinson, Hunter Bell, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Josh Kerr and Katarina Johnson-Thompson – have opted against contesting their primary events in Birmingham this weekend.
Whether Hunter Bell’s 1500m absence is sufficient for the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, Laura Muir, to secure her place on the team is uncertain. Muir, 32, has not missed a global 1500m final for a decade, but remains on the comeback trail from serious injury.
“I tore my calf in February, but it was a really bad tear,” she said. “And then I had the longest time of my career off running probably since I started aged 12. So it’s going to take an effect.
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“I didn’t run for two months, and then another month to be able to put spikes on. So at least three months, if not four months, of compromised training.
“It’s to be expected that I’m not going to be on fire right now. But we’re getting there. I’m making big improvements week on week. If I can get on the team I think I can be in a good spot come September. But it’s just going to be competitive to get there. All I can do is go out there and give it my best. That’s all I can do this year.”
Five events to watch
Women’s pole vault, final 3.15pm Saturday Former world indoor champion Molly Caudery unexpectedly failed to clear a height when a favourite for an Olympic medal last year, but is ranked No 2 in the world this year.
Men’s 100m, final 7.20pm Saturday World medalist Zharnel Hughes faces last year’s UK champion Louie Hinchliffe and Eugene Amo-Dadzie, who has run 9.99 seconds this summer.
Women’s 200m, final 3.39pm Sunday Former world champion Dina Asher-Smith remains the woman to beat, but will expect a tough challenge from Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita.
Women’s 400m, final 4.06pm Sunday World indoor champion Amber Anning looks a class above, with Yemi Mary John, Laviai Nielsen and Victoria Ohuruogu expected to do battle in behind.
Men’s 800m, final 4.13pm Sunday Perhaps the race of the weekend with five men possessing the qualification standard, headed by the Olympic finalist Max Burgin.
