Tokyo Olympics: Alex Bell grabs lifeline with both hands

The Leeds 800m runner initially missed out on selection for the Games but was given a late reprieve when Laura Muir pulled out of the 800m to focus on the 1500m.

From the depths of despair, Bell was handed a lifeline and she grabbed it with both hands, running 1:58.83 in the semi-finals to secure a place in tomorrow’s final – one of a record three Brits to make it through.

To say it has been a rollercoaster would be an understatement.

The 28-year-old said: “A week prior to flying out I can’t tell you the lows I was facing and feeling and some of the emotions that I didn’t think were possible.

“My world flipped round with one phone call and I was happy to grab the opportunity with both hands and just enjoy it. I cried on the phone to the team leader – he said it was the best phone call he ever had. The world was turned upside down, I refocused!”

It has been an incredible turnaround for Bell, but more than that, this was a stunning result for the British middle-distance runners on an evening dominated by Dina Asher-Smith’s failure to make the final of the 100m and subsequent withdrawal from the 200m because of a hamstring injury.

That will have been a body blow for the athletics team in Japan, with Asher-Smith the team captain, but the 800m girls went some way to making up for it. Bell will be joined in the final by Jemma Reekie and 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson.

Bell’s time was actually the quickest of the three, but she was third in her semi-final so endured an agonising wait to see if she had made it.

She said: “I sat waiting for ages for that last heat but it was worth it! I wanted to make it fast.

“I said coming into this race I was going to enjoy every single step I was going to take and I did and I was so relaxed and so happy going into that race that the performance reflected how I was feeling and I just wanted to make it my own, even if it was going to be the last race I did.

“It was a long wait but it paid off and I’m over the moon to join the other two as well, what a trio! Honestly I knew them girls would do it, and I can honestly say we’re going to give them all hell in two days’ time. It’s going to be unbelievable – anything can happen.”

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