Georgia Bell has said her sensational performance in Saturday night’s 1500m was because there was “no pressure” on her coming into the Olympics.
The 30-year-old made a remarkable comeback to win bronze in Paris having quit athletics in 2017.
Bell had been a successful junior athlete, winning the English Schools 800m in 2008, but was mentally and physically unable to sustain her rise.
It was only during the pandemic that she rediscovered her enthusiasm for running and decided to get back in contact with former coach Trevor Painter – who also oversaw Keely Hodgkinson’s success in the 800m.
Speaking to PA news agency following the race, Bell said: “There was no pressure on me coming into this Olympics and that meant that I was just able to run and be brave and have that freedom.”
Despite working a full-time job in cyber security, Bell won European silver in June – beating Laura Muir to the British title and securing her Olympic debut in the city where she was born.
Bell said: “I honestly felt like it was meant to be yesterday.
“I knew it’d be so hard, but just being born in Paris, taking a huge break from running and coming back, I just felt like it was meant to be and as long as I was brave then something special would be able to happen.”
Asked if she ever thought she would make it to the podium having quit athletics, she said: “I didn’t. I honestly just thought it was completely unfinished business. I knew when I ended I hadn’t achieved my potential, but I just thought I’ve missed it now, I’ll never be able to get back to this point.
Great Britain’s Georgia Bell (left) wins bronze with Australia’s Jessica Hull (centre) winning silver (Martin Rickett/PA)
“To make it to the Olympics was amazing, and then to have a medal as well is beyond my wildest dreams, but that’s always the goal.”
Describing her thought process during the race, Bell said: “I knew it was going to be full gas from the gun.
“We went out in a really fast first lap. I was just like, get on the train, hold on for dear life and if I was there with 100 metres to go, I knew I had a kick, so I knew I could kind of close it down.”
Looking to the future, she said her bronze will motivate her to compete in future games: “I’m technically on a sabbatical from work at the moment, so we’ll have to see how that goes, but with the World Games next year I definitely feel like there’s a lot more that we can do.
“It seems crazy to say, but the Olympics in LA will come around quickly. I think this has really given me fuel for the future.”