For many athletes, their competitors are just that – competitors.
Individuals striving for the same goals. Each pushes themselves in training, never quite 100% sure their preparation will lead to success, before colliding with rivals a few times a year and going head-to-head.
But for British duo Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell, the relationship dynamic is different. They are not only competitors, but also training partners and friends.
Friendly rivalry
In 2024, while the pair trained together under the tutelage of husband-and-wife coaching team Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, Hunter Bell’s focus was the 1500m, while Hodgkinson specialised in the 800m.
Hodgkinson entered the Olympic year as the great hope of British athletics, with silver from the previous Games in Tokyo, two world silvers and a European gold. Despite being more than eight years her senior, Hunter Bell emerged as the breakthrough name in the sport, having returned to the track after a five-year hiatus.
It proved to be a monumental year for the duo. Hodgkinson fulfilled all expectations as she struck gold in the 800m, while Hunter Bell won bronze in the 1500m – a result that would have seemed completely implausible just a year earlier.
However, injury derailed Hodgkinson’s plans in 2025. She was forced to miss both the Apeldoorn European Athletics Indoor Championships and the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, as well as abandon her attempt to target the world indoor 800m record.
The setback delayed her return until deep into the summer season, when she reappeared in Silesia in August and scorched to a then world-leading 1:54.74.
Meanwhile, Hunter Bell was racing frequently, earning a world indoor bronze in the 1500m and experimenting with the 800m. That included becoming UK champion and claiming Diamond League victories in Stockholm and London.
This posed the question: what would Hunter Bell do at the World Athletics Championships? Would she race against Britain’s golden girl – her training partner and friend? When decision time came, both Hodgkinson and Hunter Bell committed to the 800m.
Both cruised through to the final, and a double British podium looked certain. As reigning Olympic champion, and despite her curtailed season, Hodgkinson entered as the favourite. The race appeared to be playing into the 23-year-old’s hands as she looked comfortable in the lead, until Kenya’s Lilian Odira stormed past to take gold in 1:54.62, with Hunter Bell in tow.
The friends both desperately dipped for the line, with Hunter Bell snatching silver by just 0.01 seconds in 1:54.90.
Close camaraderie
Some might find losing to a friend and training partner tougher than losing to anyone else, but these two celebrated together, embracing their achievement before heading out for karaoke later that evening.
“We are very lucky to train together,” said Hunter Bell in Tokyo. “That’s how we get to be the fastest in the world – we push each other. You don’t want to be alone in training. You need people better than you.
“I was away from the track for a while when I worked in technology sales for seven years. People don’t see all the years of training I did while working full time, funding myself to get to races. I am so happy it’s all come together.”
It is clear that the pair’s camaraderie not only drives their success but also encourages them to enjoy their training environment.
Their playful TikToks offer an insight into life at training camps, where they spend weeks or even months together alongside other M11 Track Club athletes, including Ireland’s European indoor 3000m champion Sarah Healy and Italian sprinter Gloria Hooper.
While their journeys to global medals could hardly be more different, they appear inseparable as friends – by times on the track and even by their signature long blonde ponytails.
This summer, however, they could clash again, this time on home soil in a battle for the European title in Birmingham. If Hunter Bell remains committed to the 800m, the pair may become increasingly familiar with racing one another – and occasionally losing to each other too.