Olympic Bronze Medalist Georgia Bell Places Second at Lausanne

The former Cal grad student from Great Britain has assembled a remarakble comeback season.

Georgia Bell / Photo y Trevor Painter

Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Bell continues to run fast and compete well.

The 30-year-old former Cal student and London native, a 1,500-meter specialist, dropped down to the 800 and finished second on Thursday at a Diamond League track and field meet in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Bell ran 1 minute, 58.53 second to finish behind Kenya’s Mary Moraa, the Olympic bronze-medalist in the 800, who crossed in 1:57.91. Bell finished one spot ahead of countrywoman Jemma Reekie, who was fourth in the 800 at the Olympics.

It’s actually only the second-fastest 800 time run this season by Bell, who clocked 1:56.28 in a race at London last month. That time ranks third in the world in 2024.

Bell was out of the sport for several years after completing her two years as a grad student at Cal, and her comeback this season has been stunning.

She was a surprise bronze medalist in the 1,500 earlier this month in Paris with a time of 3:52.61 that Gset a British record, was the fourth-fastest in the world this year and lifts her to No. 11 on the all-time world list.

*** Cal junior and Olympic silver medalist Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania, is scheduled to compete in the discus at Rome on Aug. 30. Alekna set the world record in the event last spring and n Paris earned a medal at his third straight major world event on the heels of winning silver and bronze at the 2022 and ’23 World Championships.

*** Meanwhile, Cal throws coach Mo Saatara said Camryn Rogers, the Olympic gold medalist in the women’s hammer throw, is done for the season. She won’t compete again in 2024 he said, because no major international meets include the women’s hammer.

The 25-year-old Canadian won three NCAA titles at Cal and last year captured her first world championship.