Cal's (Georgia) Bell of the Ball Wins 1,500 Bronze in Paris

The 30-year-old breaks Great Britain's national record to pull off one of the biggest surprises on the Olympic track

Georgia Bell / Kirby Lee, USA Today

Faced with the fastest women’s 1,500-meter field in Olympic history, Georgia Bell delivered her biggest surprise performance yet at the Paris Games on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Cal alum made a mad dash from behind over the final 30 meters to claim a bronze medal and set a British national record.

"I don't know if I've ever been this happy," Bell told BBC Sport.

Bell, who earned her bachelor's degree at home in the UK and ran two years at Cal while in grad school, left the sport in 2017 for more than four years before rekindling her love of running in 2022 at a 5k fun run at London's Bushy Park in 2022. She got serious last year and since then has knocked an astonishing 20 seconds off her best in the event, clocking 3:52.61 on Saturday that lifts her to No. 11 on the all-time world list.

"I woke up really calm and in a good mood and I just thought ‘I’m not the fastest person in that race' but I thought if I was brave and got stuck in, I could make something special happen,” Bell said.

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the world-recordholder in the 1,500, won her third straight gold medal, breaking her own Olympic standard with a time of 3:51.29.

Australia’s Jessica Hull won silver at 3:52.56, barely holding off Bell at the finish line. Bell passed Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji over the final few strides to secure the bronze.

“I envisioned it being a battle, four of us at the top of the straight,” said Hull. “I was like, 'I’m not going to be the one going home without a medal'. To see Georgia come through, it’s pretty incredible. We’ve just come second and third behind the greatest of all time.”

Georgia Bell embraces Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon / James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

Bell shaved four seconds off her previous best of 3:56.54, set earlier this year at a different venue in Paris, where she was born to British parents. A year ago, her best was 4:12.16, and she ranks a modest seventh on Cal’s career list with a 2016 time of 4:18.19.

She joins hammer throw gold medalist Camryn Rogers as just the second Cal woman ever to earn a medal at the Olympics. No other Golden Bears runner, male or female, had ever medaled in the 1,500 meters.

She topped Laura Muir’s month-old British record of 3:53.37 on the way to becoming the first British woman to medal in the event at the Olympics.

Bell beat a star-studded field to claim the bronze. Six of the 13 fastest women in history at 1,500 meters ran in the 12-runner field, and all of them achieved those times in 2024.

It’s not like her competition folded in the big moment. The next three finishers behind Bell — Ethiopia’s Welteji (3:52.75), Muir (3:52.37) and Kenya’s Susan Lokayo Ejore (3:56.07) — all ran lifetime bests. And still could not beat Bell. 

The Mirror newspaper in England, alluding to her remarkable ascension, began its story this way: "Six months ago Georgia would have laughed if you told her she was about to become an Olympian.".

It was a stunning upset that Bell advanced to the final, and she refused to count herself out in the final.

“I’ve stopped putting limits on what is achievable,” she said. “Every race I keep improving, growing in confidence. They say pressure is a privilege but being able to run without pressure is a privilege too. 

“I’m just enjoying it, to be honest. I walked away and never thought I’d step foot on a track again, which gives a nice perspective. I’m just happy to be here."

Americans Nikki Hiltz and Elle St. Pierre finished seventh and eighth.