Hunter Bell Contends With Double Trouble After Winning London Diamond League 800m

What does a hitherto 1500m master do erstwhile they cannot extremity winning complete 800m? Call nan expert, of course. Back erstwhile she concluded a singular first afloat play arsenic a runner pinch Olympic 1500m bronze successful Paris past summer, Georgia Hunter Bell’s way appeared to beryllium set. Why alteration a successful formula?

But alteration she has, and triumph complete 800m successful London connected Saturday provided a 2nd triumph successful her past 2 Diamond League races complete nan distance, having won successful Stockholm past month.

This is wherever nan problem has arisen for September’s world championships successful Tokyo. Should she instrumentality pinch nan arena successful which she won her Olympic medal, should she target nan shorter title complete 2 laps, aliases should she effort an audacious double that has progressively fallen retired of manner complete caller years?

Georgia Hunter Bell celebrates aft winning nan women’s 800m successful her second-fastest clip ever. Photograph: S Bardens/British Athletics/Getty Images

Helpfully, she has nan cleanable sounding committee successful her contacts book: “I mightiness really scope retired to Kelly Holmes and spot what she thinks.”

Holmes, who memorably won Olympic 800m and 1500m gold successful 2004, initially contacted Hunter Bell aft nan Paris Games past summer. The narration has since developed into thing akin to a mentor and a mentee. So, aft triumphing complete a beardown section astatine nan London Stadium successful 1min 56.74sec – nan second-fastest clip of her life – Hunter Bell is keen to perceive what Holmes thinks of it all.

“Doing nan double [at nan world championships] is an action because nan schedule’s really rather generous for it,” she said. “There’s due days off; 1 arena completes earlier nan 2nd starts. But I conscionable deliberation it’s really difficult and you mightiness worldly your chances astatine both. So I don’t know. A batch of group tin person their sentiment but there’s very fewer that person really done it. I’d for illustration to spot what Kelly has to opportunity astir it.”

There is an further factor. Shorn of her training partner, and Olympic champion, Keely Hodgkinson – who is expected to return from a hamstring wounded successful nan coming weeks – 800m times person somewhat stagnated. By contrast, expanding numbers of 1500m women proceed to break caller ground.

“You’ve sewage to look strategically astatine nan events,” said Hunter Bell. “The 1500m has sewage moreover faster than past year. I didn’t deliberation that was possible, but it has again. Whereas nan 800m, astatine nan moment, is not arsenic accelerated arsenic it was past year. So if you’re trying to get a medal, what is really nan champion point to do?”

Elsewhere, nan anticipated conflict of nan British runners grounded to materialise successful nan men’s 1500m arsenic nan young Kenyan upstart Phanuel Koech upset nan 60,000-strong sellout crowd by outkicking reigning world champion Josh Kerr successful nan location consecutive to declare victory.

Phanuel Koech runs distant from Josh Kerr successful nan last consecutive to triumph nan men’s 1500m. Photograph: Javier García/Shutterstock

Koech, 18, had ne'er tally a 1500m title earlier past month, but now owns 3 of nan six fastest times successful nan world this twelvemonth aft triumphing successful a gathering grounds of 3:28.82. Despite search him for astir of nan race, Kerr was incapable to support gait successful nan location straight, finishing 2nd successful 3:29.37. Former world champion Jake Wightman came fourth, while George Mills fell pinch 200m remaining.

Ever bullish, Kerr remains assured that nan world title he claimed from Wightman will stay successful Britain. “Yeah, 100%,” he said. “The title lives present and it will proceed to unrecorded present for nan adjacent year.”

Of his ain run, he added: “Good, not great. In general, I really liked really I felt passim nan full race. I was waiting until astir 120 to go, but that powerfulness wasn’t rather there. We’re getting there. I cognize I tin make a large jump successful nan adjacent mates of months.”

Charlie Dobson took nan scalp of British compatriot and Olympic metallic medallist Matt Hudson-Smith to triumph nan 400m successful a individual champion 44.14, becoming nan second-fastest European of each clip successful nan process, while Morgan Lake won nan precocious jump successful a season’s-best 1.96m.

Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred ran a world-leading 21.71 to hit Dina Asher-Smith successful nan 200m, and America’s Olympic champion, Noah Lyles, vanished 2nd complete 100m down Oblique Seville of Jamaica, who was good clear successful 9.86.

Before nan action began, nan British men’s 4x400m squad of Roger Black, Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Mark Richardson and heat-runner Mark Hylton received an extraordinarily belated gold-medal upgrade 28 years aft nan 1997 world championships. Britain initially vanished second, only for nan American winners to later beryllium stripped of their title aft Antonio Pettigrew, who died successful 2010, confessed successful 2008 to doping betwixt 1997 and 2003.

“On nan 1 manus it’s a existent shame it’s taken this long,” said Thomas. “But connected a individual level, it’s really beautiful today. My boy is present today. I didn’t person immoderate children backmost then. It felt really special.”