Having watched her training partner Keely Hodgkinson dominate the 800m at the London Stadium 12 months previously, it was Georgia Hunter-Bell’s turn to take the plaudits as she took victory at the 2025 Novuna London Athletics Meet in a season’s best time (at the time) of 1:56.74.
Hunter-Bell is no stranger to success. The European 1500m silver medallist clocked 1:56.28 to finish third behind Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie in London in 2024. Then, at the Olympic Games in Paris, her closing speed proved pivotal as she moved through the field to win 1500m bronze in a 3:52.61 PB.
She had an incredible 2025 indoor season that included wins at the Millrose Games (Mile), The Keely Klassic (1500m) and the UK Indoor Championships (1500m). She went on to win world indoor 1500m bronze.
The 32-year-old won her first Diamond League race (800m) in Stockholm in June, then, bringing the trademark M11 Track Club swagger to the capital in July, she moved clear of the field in the home straight to take the win in front of a sell-out 60,000 crowd – proving that the tactical work she’d done in training to maximise her 800m potential was paying off.
“The longer the race goes on, the more I’m aware of those who can hold that 400m and 200m speed,” she explained post-race. “So much of the 800m is about positioning, so you have to be aware of what is going on around you all the time. In that last 100m I felt amazing so I really wanted to push to the finish line. You feel so supported in this stadium… and for us British girls it is incredible.”
The top three – Great Britain’s Hunter-Bell, USA’s Addison Wiley (second in 1:57.43) and Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi (third in 1:57.62) – all recorded season’s best times.
“Days don’t get much better,” Hunter-Bell wrote on Instagram afterwards. “Thank you to everyone who came out to support. Your cheers pushed me on in that home straight. P1 on home turf. I won’t forget this one London.”
She went on to win an impressive 800m silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in a lifetime best of 1:54.90, going second on the UK all-time list behind Hodgkinson who finished third after an injury-interrupted season.
The Novuna London Athletics Meet will return to the London Stadium on Saturday 18 July 2026. Buy your tickets now: https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/events-and-tickets/novuna-london-athletics-meet-2026/
The Novuna London Athletics Meet – the world’s biggest one-day athletics event – is the eleventh meeting of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League. The series comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents and begins in Doha on 8 May. It concludes with a single final across two days in Brussels (4-5 September).