COMEBACKS DON’T COME MUCH MORE EXTREME THAN GEORGIA BELL’S. The promising junior athlete gave up running entirely after a stint on the US collegiate scene left her injured and out of love with the sport. Embracing the fun of life away from athletics, embarking on a successful career and enjoying bike rides with her fiancé, she never imagined competing again. Then came the pandemic, parkrun and, five years after she last set foot on a track, a 5K on a whim in borrowed spikes. Since then, a meteoric rise has seen her become the British indoor 1500m champion this February, then go on to finish fourth in the World Indoor 1500m final in March. Remarkably, the 30-year-old has managed to achieve all this after years away from running, while still holding down a demanding full-time job in cyber security. She’s now taken a sabbatical from work, signed a sponsorship deal with Nike and has her sights set firmly on this year’s Olympics in Paris. Here, she shares the story behind her remarkable return.
RUNNER’S WORLD Your stratospheric rise seemingly came out of nowhere, but you were actually an outstanding junior runner. Can you tell us about those days?
GEORGIA BELL ‘I first got into running just through school sports day – I beat all the boys and one of the parents was like, “Better get her down to a running club!” So I went into the club system and had some good success as a junior. The highlights were winning English Schools at 14, then being the top ranked 800m athlete at under-15 and under-17. Those were the glory days.’
RW Was the expectation you would become a star athlete?
‘I think so. When you do something young and everyone sees you’re quite good at it, you start to see it as your identity, and
