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Georgia Hunter Bell remembers it well, not least the comically oversized vest. <\/b><\/p>\n
The feeling of knowing she was going to win her first ever track race as she passed everyone – girls and boys – on the final lap. Listening as her mum was told that 800m in two minutes and 39 seconds was “pretty good” for a 10-year-old.<\/p>\n
It all remains vivid, more than two decades later, as Britain’s Olympic 1500m bronze medallist weighs up the potential for completing a full-circle moment in pursuit of another global podium.<\/p>\n
The dilemma over whether to stick with the 1500m, switch focus to the 800m, or even attempt a rare double, continues to occupy her mind just four weeks before the World Championships begin in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Hunter Bell’s exciting progress this season in the event which she originally showed great promise before she quit the sport for five years has teased the tantalising prospect of a showdown with training partner Keely Hodgkinson in a global final.<\/p>\n
The pair will go head-to-head over 800m at next week’s Lausanne Diamond League, after which Hunter Bell will make her decision. <\/p>\n
Before then, the 31-year-old contests a 1500m in Silesia on Saturday, where, in the 800m, Hodgkinson will race for the first time since being crowned Olympic champion in that event 12 months ago following an injury-disrupted year.<\/p>\n
“This year will be the first time that it might be close,” Hunter Bell tells BBC Sport, as she looks ahead to competing against Hodgkinson.<\/p>\n
“We do a lot of training together, we obviously are very good friends and we have a great team vibe, so I think at the moment we’re just taking it day-by-day. <\/p>\n
“It will be interesting, if we both make the world final and we both have a chance of doing well, how we manage [the situation].<\/p>\n
“But, at the end of the day, if Great Britain could win two medals out of three, and [our training group] M11 could go one-two, that would just be the coolest thing ever. <\/p>\n
“We’re all excited about the opportunity, rather than seeing it as anything negative.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n