Hunter Bell eyes ambitious sweep after 800m gold in Glasgow

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Hunter Bell won in a time of one minute 59.51 seconds

Georgia Hunter Bell is eyeing an ambitious sweep of gold medals in 2026 after winning the 800m Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow.

England's Hunter Bell dominated the field to add Commonwealth gold to the 1500m world indoor title she won earlier this year in Poland.

The 32-year-old, a training partner of 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, will also race at next month's European Championships and the inaugural Ultimate Championships in September.

"I am two golds down and two more to go."

Hunter Bell is blossoming later in her career.

Having taken five years out from the sport before returning during the Covid-19 pandemic, she took 1500m bronze at the Paris Olympics before pipping Hodgkinson to silver at last year's World Championships in the 800m.

This, though, is her first outdoor title - in the event Hodgkinson is Olympic champion.

"Every medal is a landmark moment but my first outdoor gold is huge," she said.

Hunter Bell and Kenya's world champion Lilian Odira were the favourites for this title after Hodgkinson opted not to compete. The final was barely a contest with Hunter Bell setting the pace and then kicking on with 200m to go to win by more than a second.

Hodgkinson has instead taken time off before the European Championships in Birmingham, which start on 10 August.

Hunter Bell is only running in the 1500m in that event, denying the chance to see an intriguing race between the pair, but took her opportunity in her friend and training partner's absence.

Though she said the win validates her decision to come to Glasgow, she defended the decision of others to withdraw.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Hodgkinson won the 800m world indoor title in Poland and, after successive second-place finishes, won the London Diamond League over the same distance earlier this month

Dina Asher-Smith, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Matt Hudson-Smith have been other high-profile English absentees.

"Every decision is different per athlete," Hunter Bell said.

"A few weeks ago I had to pull out of London which I was devastated about because I was sick.

"We want to be healthy and racing at all times.

"That is what people don't understand.

"If we could we would be racing non-stop.

"We get incentivised financially, we love it. This is what we train for.

"If we are not showing up there was a reason for that."

Later, Emily Newnham's late surge secured England silver in the 400m hurdles while Jake Minshull also took silver in the men’s race.

Sammy Ball, the British under-20 decathlon record holder, and Lewis Church finished fourth and fifth respectively for England in the decathlon.

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