Georgia Bell On Her Remarkable Comeback From A Five-Year Break From Track To Make The British Olympic Team + Run 3:56 For 1500m

"When I quit after college, I genuinely thought, ‘That's it. I'll never go back to track.’ I just wish I'd heard more stories like mine where you take a huge break, get back into something that you love, and make it to a really high level… It's just nice to know that there's not one route to make it to the Olympics."

Georgia Bell and I connected after she just ran 3:56.54 at the Monaco Diamond League to become the second-fastest British woman of all time over 1500m. She had shared that she’s a fan of the show and I’ve been following her story closely this season and it’s remarkable. 

She quit track seven years ago after finishing up her college eligibility at Cal – but after dabbling in the duathlon, she decided to make a comeback this year. It has been nearly perfect as she has won the British 1500m indoor and outdoor national titles, finished 4th in the World Indoor Championship final, earned a European Championship silver medal and is now headed to the Olympic Games for Team GB.

She did much of it in the beginning of the year while balancing a full-time job in cybersecurity. She trains under coach Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows and in the same training group that included Olympic silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson. Georgia explains how her training set-up works since she’s still living in London most of the time and has to do much of her own training solo – while also still incorporating a bunch of biking.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Georgia Bell | ⁠@georgiabelltheduathlete on Instagram⁠

Time Stamps:

5:11 - What her goals were heading into 2024.

6:08 - Her running background + when her running career began taking off. 

8:03 - How her Olympic dream evolved over the past year.

9:51 - Her improvement from the start of 2024 to running a world-lead a few months later.

11:37 - Signs in training that indicated a breakthrough was coming.

13:03 - Why she returned to the 1500m/800m after focusing on endurance cycling.

14:40 - How she returned to racing on the track after five years away from it. 

17:33 - Her takeaways from competing in the NCAA system. 

19:00 - What she enjoys most about professional running.

20:09 - Details on how she uses cycling to supplement her training. 

21:58 - Her training setup + why she mostly trains solo. 

24:35 - Details on M11 Track Club.

27:19 - Why still considers herself a “dual athlete.” 

30:22 - Breaking down running a sub-four 1500m for the first time at the Paris Diamond League. 

34:58 - Going from working full-time to taking a sabbatical to train professionally. 

39:57 - Her plans for what’s next between now and the Olympics.

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