Three golds in 28 minutes - GB make history at World Indoors
Great Britain claimed three gold medals in a sensational 28 minutes to make history and achieve the team's best haul at a World Athletics Indoor Championships. Georgia Hunter Bell began stormed to her first global 1500m title to begin Sunday night's medal rush, before pole vaulter Molly Caudery secured her return to the top of the podium in Poland. A third triumph never looked in doubt as Olympic champion and world record holder Keely Hodgkinson dominated the women's 800m final to win her first world indoor gold.
Following Josh Kerr's 3,000m triumph on Saturday, it guaranteed the British team's most successful World Athletics Indoor Championships of all time, surpassing the three golds achieved in 1999. Returning to the championships at which she represented Britain for the first time just two years ago, Olympic bronze medallist Hunter Bell reeled in Ethiopia's Birke Haylom before bursting clear of her rivals on the final lap to win in three minutes 58. 53 seconds.
Caudery, already guaranteed silver by the time her team-mate crossed the line, then reclaimed the title which represented her breakthrough success two years ago with a second-time clearance over 4. 85 metres. This was the 32-year-old Hunter Bell's fifth major international medal - and fourth on the global stage - as she continues to establish herself at the top of a sport she took a five-year break from before returning in 2022.
It was the fourth-placed finish at the 2024 world indoors in Glasgow that proved to Hunter Bell she could compete with the world's best - and should take a summer sabbatical from her full-time job to achieve her Olympic dream. The British team captain in Torun, Hunter Bell had won both of her 1500m races this season in preparation for a first global crown. She demonstrated the experience she now has at this level as she remained patient despite Haylom opening up a significant early lead, gradually reducing the gap before launching her devastating attack for gold at the bell.
After making the Olympic podium on her debut at Paris 2024, and edging training partner Hodgkinson to world 800m silver in September, Hunter Bell's remarkable journey to the top of the sport is complete. A prodigiously talented junior, Hunter Bell has made rapid improvement since re-establishing contact with coach Trevor Painter after repeated injuries and a move to America caused her to fall out of love with the sport. Co-coach Jenny Meadows has not been allowed to forget her initial response when husband Painter informed her that Hunter Bell had got back in touch.