#PathwaytoParis catch up | Awesome Athletics alumna bring home bronze
It’s been an astonishing final few days of the Paris games for Birmingham representatives, with two alumna winning a medal a piece in the Athletics competition. It was a proud podium moment for both Georgia Bell in the 1500m, and Hannah Kelly in the 4x400m, who secured brilliant bronze in their races for GB.
Georgia Bell
Two years ago, if you’d told alumna Georgia Bell that she’d be swapping the park runs of London for a podium at the 2024 Paris Games, she might have thought that was just a dream. But imagine the reality: quitting a successful track career in 2017 due to the pressure it was putting on your body, going for a causal parkrun in 2022, and then becoming a Summer Games medallist at 30 years old, all whilst working a challenging job in cybersecurity. It’s been quite a couple of years for Georgia, and we were so excited to see her not only get a brilliant bronze in the final of the Women’s 1500m but also run a British record in the process!
After coming second (3:59.49) in the semi-final behind Olympic- and World-record holder Faith Kipyegon from Kenya, Georgia faced the world’s best in the final on 10 August. With just under two seconds separating first place and third, Georgia ran the race of her life to break the British record and make the podium in an incredible 3min 52.61seconds. Not only was it Georgia’s debut Games, but the final was also the fastest women’s 1500m race in Olympic history.
Hannah Kelly
If that wasn’t inspiring enough, 9 August saw staff member and former UoB student Hannah Kelly take to the track with her teammates for the 4x400m Women’s relay heat. Hannah took the second leg of the relay for Great Britain, and the squad smashed the challenge, coming in second overall behind USA with a time of 3:24.72 – a miniscule .01 of a second ahead of the third-place runners, France, and a season best for the team.
This success enabled the GB 4x400m team to progress to the final, where Hannah’s teammates ran a national record and came away with a bronze medal for the whole squad. On becoming an Olympian, Hannah said on Instagram that ‘it’s going to take a while for this one to sink in’. Congratulations Hannah!
