The 32-year-old English runner, who made her international debut in this city only two years ago as a part-time athlete working in tech, led from gun to tape to beat world champion Lilian Odira and complete her set of Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth medals.
Tears on the podium
“There were some tears on the podium,” Hunter Bell said afterwards. “That showed me how much that meant.”
Hunter Bell’s story has already become one of sport’s great second acts. As a teenager she was among Britain’s best runners before injuries and setbacks forced her to retire in her mid-20s. Long cycle rides during lockdown and parkruns in Bushy Park brought her back, and by November 2022 she had contacted her old coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, who had regarded her as “the one who got away”.
In March 2024 she wore her first GB vest at the world indoor championships in Glasgow; that August she won Olympic 1500m bronze in a British record of 3min 52.61sec. She has since given up her job, and Friday’s medal in an England vest was her sixth time on a global podium.
“Lots of people reflect on being a kid and doing it for the kid version of yourself,” she said after. “But I actually think of the young woman version of myself, who was like 23, 24, and gave up and really didn’t know what she was doing with her life. I feel sorry for that girl, and then I feel proud of making it through that and coming back here. That’s what makes me emotional.”
Tactical masterclass
Odira, who beat Hunter Bell and Keely Hodgkinson to win gold at last year’s world championships, went into the final as favourite in most eyes. But Hunter Bell had other ideas, leading from tape to gun and crossing halfway in a slow 60.32sec before powering clear with 200m to go. Odira finished more than a second back for silver, with Australia’s Sarah Billings taking bronze.
“I felt calm,” Hunter Bell said. “I really feel like I was composed. It didn’t go to plan as in the race. I did not think I would go gun-to-tape and lead it for the whole thing. I wanted to lead with 200m to go. But I found myself at the front, and so I thought ‘I’ll just control it, keep it relaxed, not too fast’, and then when I feel that pressure on me with the move being made, I’ll be ready to go.”
“I’m really happy with that, it worked perfectly,” she added. “I really felt my legs were going in the last few steps and I couldn’t see where anyone was, but the crowd really pulled me home. It was great.”
Other English medals
There were also two silver medals for England on the night, through Emily Newnham and Jake Minshull in the women’s and men’s 400m hurdles, but this was a night that belonged to Hunter Bell.
Elsewhere in Glasgow
Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands stormed to the women’s 200m title in 22.07sec. The 20-year-old has run 10.63 for the 100m this year, making her the fifth fastest woman in history, and has a 200m personal best of 21.68sec. She finished ahead of Shaniqua Bascombe of Trinidad and Tobago, with Jamaica’s Alana Reid taking bronze.
In the men’s javelin, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage won gold with a throw of 89.75m, ahead of India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra.
