Georgia Hunter Bell to challenge Keely Hodgkinson in 800m as Great Britain’s World Championship team announced

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Georgia Hunter Bell will fully focus on 800m success at the World Athletics Championships as she looks to rival Olympic champion, and training partner, Keely Hodgkinson for the gold medal later this year.

UK Athletics announted the Great Britain and Northern Ireland which will compete at the competition in Tokyo this September with previous world champions, Josh Kerr and Katarina Johnsoon-Thompson also selected.

The team was selected with the aim of winning medals and achieveing top eight finishes across a variety of events including the men’s 1500m, women’s 800m, and both the men’s and women’s sprint categories.

Hunter Bell’s successes have all come in the 1500m with the 31-year-old winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics and a silver medal at the European Championships in 2024. Having previously raced both the 800m and 1500m there was speculation on whether Hunter Bell would specialise and she’s elected to compete over the shorter distance following a third place finish behind Hodgkinson and Audrey Werro at the 2025 Athletissima event in Lausanne early this month.

That event saw Hodgkinson continue her impressive return from an early season injury and she will be the favourite to win gold again in Tokyo. Joining them in the competition will be the 2024 World Athletics Indoor medallist Jemma Reekie.

Over on the men’s side of things, Kerr is joined by 2025 World Indoor medallist Neil Gourley, 2022 World Champion Jake Wightman and Elliot Giles in the 1500m.

George Mills will look to improve on his British Record time of 12:46.59 in the 5000m while women’s 400m World Indoor Champion Amber Anning, and Under 23 European silver medallist Yemi Mary John join the experienced Victoria Ohuruogu for that event.

Also of note are the selected sprinters with Dina Asher-Smith leading a strong female trio including Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita who will compete across both the 100m and 200m distances.

Hunter Bell has selected to compete solely in the 800m after a third place finish at the 2025 Athletissima event in Lausanne (Getty Images)

Performance Director of UK Athletics, Paula Dunn, said: “We are proud to announce such a strong Novuna GB & NI team for Tokyo. This squad combines proven global medallists with exciting emerging athletes, and we are confident they can build on our recent successes at the highest level.

“Our clear ambition is to convert world-class performances into medals, while also developing depth across events for the future. Tokyo will provide the perfect stage to demonstrate the strength of British athletics, and I know the athletes will rise to the occasion.”

The final team will be confirmed on Monday 1st September following the confirmation of the final world athletics rankings late on Saturday 30th August.