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Stuart Weir
Guest
Editor’s note: Georgia Hunter-Bell has had a superb 2026. In March, at the World Indoors, Georgia won the Women’s 1,500 meters in 3:58.53. Georgia set the UK Athletics Champs record with her win in 1:55.93, breaking the 31-year-old record of Dame Kelly Holmes, who ran 1:57.56 (who also won 800/1500 in Athens 2004). At Nike Pre, Georgia ran a personal-best mile in 4:18.52 on July 4, 2026. In this feature, Stuart Weir writes of her strong win over 800 meters at the Commonwealth Games on July 31, 2026.
On your marks, Georgia Hunter-Bell, photo by Team England
Georgia Hunter-Bell Wins the 800m in Glasgow!
Georgia Hunter Bell won the Commonwealth Games Women’s 800 on Friday night, had a quick celebration, then went to bed before an early Saturday morning flight to Portugal for a preparation camp before next week’s European Championships.
The result was
1 Georgia Hunter Bell 1:59.51
2 Lilian Odira 2:00.58
3 Sarah Billings 2:00.61
Georgia Hunter-Bell, Glasgow 800 meters, photo by Team England
The win for Hunter Bell was no surprise, but don’t forget that the reigning world champion, Lilian Odira, was in the race. The time was slow, but this was a championship, tactical race without the Diamond League pacemakers.
Hunter Bell said afterward: “The race was how I expected it to be, but I didn’t think I’d be leading it. The plan was to get up there and sit in second place, but when I realized no one was going to take it on, I was like, ‘Right, I’ll hold this position but do the minimum amount I have to in order to stay here.’ My thinking was that as soon as I feel pressure on me, that’s when I’ll go. I’m really happy with that; it worked perfectly. I really felt my legs were going in the last few steps there, and I couldn’t see where anyone was, but the crowd really pulled me home. It was great.”
The smile of victory, Georgia Hunter-Bell and her gold medal, photo by Team England
She described winning her first outdoor gold medal as “huge”, adding: “I have realized it is very hard to be consistently good. Anything is possible; I really do think that every race is different. There are always upsets; we have seen people who we thought would get through the rounds go out in the semis. Every competition is its own thing.”
The thrill of victory, Georgia Hunter-Bell celebrates her 800m win in Glasgow, photo by Team England
I bumped into Georgia’s co-coach, Dr Jenny Meadows – she received an honorary doctorate recently – and was surprised at the attention to detail and the way they made no assumptions about winning. Jenny told me that she, Trevor and Georgia had had a long conversation about possible scenarios. “What would you do with 200m to go if this happened or that happened…”.
Georgia has an immense talent, but nothing is left to chance in terms of race-planning.
Georgia Hunter-Bell wins the 800m in Glasgow, photo by Team England