Olympic Bronze Medallist Georgia Bell Returns to the Vaughan
Published Tuesday 29 October 2024
Georgia and Andy Bell in Addison Hall, Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School
On Friday 25 October, Olympic bronze medallist and Vaughan alumna, Georgia Bell (OV 2012) returned to the Vaughan to speak to our Sixth Form about her return to running, an outstanding Olympic debut, and a career change from cyber security to a professional athlete.
In August this year, Georgia Bell won a bronze Olympic medal for Team GB and achieved a new national record in the women’s 1500m at her Olympic debut in Paris 2024. In a thrilling race, Georgia achieved her personal best and a new national record of 3 minutes 52.61 seconds, the 3rd fastest European and 11th fastest all time 1500m by a woman, winning Team GB their 59th medal of the Games.
Last week, Georgia returned to Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, where she studied her A-Levels, to speak to our Lower Sixth Form pupils about her time at university in America and the series of injuries that led to her making the difficult decision to leave her track career.
She explained how lockdown prompted her to start running again in 2022 and reach out to her former coach, Trevor Painter. From there she rediscovered her love for athletics and started competing in duathlon events (running and cycling). Then at the age of 30, Georgia made her Olympic debut in Paris, the city she was born in, and won a bronze medal.
After a fascinating interview with Andy Bell, Political Editor at Channel 5 and Georgia’s father, our pupils watched Georgia's race in the 1500m Olympic final and were invited to ask Georgia questions in an engaging Q&A session. Georgia then passed around her Olympic medal for all pupils to hold.
Pupils holding Georgia Bell’s Olympic bronze medal.
Mr Stubbings, Headmaster, commented: “Georgia’s story is one that resonates with all of us and her sheer determination and resilience is something that is instilled in pupils at the Vaughan which, as Georgia is resounding evidence for, they carry with them throughout life. Georgia is an excellent role model for our pupils. We are all excited to watch her go from strength to strength and wish her the very best of luck.”
Keeran S, Head Boy, competed at the NAAATT National Championships last summer, winning a silver medal in the 800m and a bronze in the 1500m and represented Trinidad and Tobago in Costa Rico at the NACAC U18 Championships. After Georgia’s speech, he added: “Ms Bell’s speech was incredible powerful, and her challenges really resonated with the students who faced difficulties during the COVID pandemic. Her message of resilience and self-improvement was very inspiring. As an aspiring athlete, I found it interesting to hear about her experiences at university in America and how she prepared for the Olympics.”
Thank you to Georgia and Andy Bell for delivering such an excellent assembly for our Lower Sixth. Georgia continues to inspire our pupils, and we are so proud of her achievements. We can't wait to see what she achieves next. Well done, Georgia!
Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School’s Headmaster, Mr Stubbings, Georgia Bell, Andy Bell, and Head Boy, Keeran S.