Georgia Hunter Bell has finished on the podium at Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth level but previously worked in cyber security tech sales. The middle-distance runner reflects on her past life in the latest Side Track.
<h3>What was your past career and how did you get into it?</h3>
I used to work in cyber security tech sales and there&rsquo;s no direct line to it. It wasn&rsquo;t like I grew up thinking I wanted to work in cyber security tech sales when I was a kid! I went to the University of Birmingham, and did geography there then went to Berkeley in California for two years and did a masters out there. There was someone in my masters group who had just started working at Darktrace, which is a UK-based cyber security tech firm but had a San Francisco arm as well. I went for an interview, got the job and worked in that industry for seven years.
<h3>So were you US-based rather than UK-based?</h3>
I spent one year working and living in San Francisco, in the North Beach area. It was really cool and such a fun year for me. I had quit running and was actually very happy that I&rsquo;d finished running at that point. I was ready to be done with it, it hadn&rsquo;t been going that well, I&rsquo;d done it my whole life and I was ready for a fresh start. It felt like going to a new school but I was a working girl in San Francisco and had lots of friends, and absolutely loved it. After a year my visa expired and that&rsquo;s when I moved back to the UK working for the same company. That&rsquo;s when I started to really miss running, I was asking, 'is this my life now, did I have it better before?'
<h3>I imagine it was a pretty steep learning curve.</h3>
Almost immediately, you&rsquo;re going to big boardrooms to talk about cyber attacks and their impact on a business. So it&rsquo;s heavy and big already but I liked being thrown into it. The first year was a bit of a learning curve. The first year of sales is always hell as you&rsquo;re building a pipeline and also learning the product and the industry. It&rsquo;s only in years two and three that you start to see the impact and, by year four, I was the No.1 sales rep. But that first year I constantly worried I was going to get fired as I was not hitting my quota.
<h3>Was that work journey similar to the return to athletics from year one onwards?</h3>
Yeah, I think so. Experiencing what I did gave me some perspective with my running as well because the pressure in both is quite high, and I understand that running is a high-pressure job. With both, it&rsquo;s a case that you have to get on with it no matter the scenario and that does help with the running. So, it doesn&rsquo;t matter if a race goes wrong or you don&rsquo;t get into the position you want, you just have to find a way out of it.
<h3>What makes a good salesperson?</h3>
A lot of stuff, and again that&rsquo;s relatable to running. You need to put in the hours, you need a big pipeline of opportunities so that means constantly reaching out to companies, meeting companies, having lots of options to turn things into opportunities. You need to be very well prepared once you get in the room with a company, do your research on them, understand their weaknesses and how that impacts their business if they don&rsquo;t do this. We&rsquo;d plug in software, they&rsquo;d trial it for free and find all these problems. At that point, you&rsquo;d think it was an easy sell as seeing is believing but often they wouldn&rsquo;t have a budget for it. So, you need to work with the team to create a budget. You also have to be creative, persistent, make people your friends so people want to pick up the phone when you call. You are helping them solve a problem but you&rsquo;re getting a deal at the end of it. You were genuinely selling something they need. You could work for six months on a project and the person you&rsquo;re working with might get fired so you start all over again.
<h3>It must be a buzz when you pull off a big sale.</h3>
Oh yeah. I closed a very big deal with a big tech company in the UK which had taken a year and a half of work. Everyone in my organisation was across it in some way up to the CEO so there was quite a lot of pressure. When it did come off, that was very cool and also cool to get pay cheque as it&rsquo;s commission-based!
<h3>Is it similar to a race win?</h3>
It is like that. And again it&rsquo;s similar as you can go in with a strategy and hope it comes off but then the race goes differently but it still all comes together. So, it&rsquo;s about doing all the prep - that&rsquo;s why when I&rsquo;m racing I like to go in feeling really prepared. So for the Commonwealth Games final the other day, I met with [coaches] Jen [Meadows] and Trev [Painter] and spent nearly an hour going through scenarios that might happen and what I should do. So on the start line I felt very calm as I felt whatever way the race went I was ready for that and I wasn&rsquo;t going to be caught short in any way. The race didn&rsquo;t go as I expected but it was fine.
<h3>You were clearly enjoying the work but when did the running itch come back in?</h3>
The first year of the job I wasn&rsquo;t doing any kind of sport as there was a lot of schmoozing so drinks with clients which wasn&rsquo;t conducive to being an athlete. Back in London, I started to go for more runs. Then I got into duathlons - running and cycling - so I remember speaking to my boss saying this is what I&rsquo;m doing outside work so I won&rsquo;t be doing any evening events but I'm happy to do breakfasts and lunches, and I&rsquo;ll need to take time off to do races. So it was always on their radar and they were really supportive. But it changed at the World Indoors in Glasgow, I told them they could watch it on the BBC. That&rsquo;s when they really started to say, 'ok, she is actually really good'. And I think Steve Cram said on the commentary, as I came fourth, &lsquo;Georgia Bell must know that she&rsquo;s good enough to make the Olympics if she just quits her job and takes it seriously,&rsquo; and so that kind of did me a solid. So I spoke to them and asked to take a sabbatical with the plan to come back in September. I said, 'I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll make the Olympics but I need to try; I need this time off to go to prep camps and do the work'. They were very supportive. They said, 'absolutely, go for it'. They had a sweepstake at work of whether I&rsquo;d come back or not after I got bronze, and most people thought I wouldn&rsquo;t. Obviously after that the contract changed with Nike so I was able to make the decision to leave.
<h3>Do you ever wonder what might have happened if you&rsquo;d done it sooner?</h3>
Of course, you think what could have happened and what I could have achieved. I was with Trev when I was younger before I went to the US and he was confident he could make me into a world-class 800m runner. He wanted me to move to Manchester and I wanted to live the American dream. I came back to him and obviously I&rsquo;ve been running well but I feel it wouldn&rsquo;t have worked for me then. I wasn&rsquo;t mature enough plus I would not have met my husband!
<h3>Do you miss your old job and life at all?</h3>
The first year no, I look back and think how on earth was I doing that? Towards the end, I was training like a full-time athlete but working for a pre-IPO tech start-up company where it&rsquo;s sales so you can never be doing enough. So I really did feel like I was burning the candle at both ends. That first year I couldn&rsquo;t believe it when I could just wake up at nine, go for a run, go for lunch, go for physio and I just absolutely loved it. This past year I have started to miss elements of it - more just the stimulation probably for my brain. I&rsquo;ve missed that side of it. I&rsquo;ve missed some of the urgency even if it can be unhealthy and stress you out. But I do like the idea that there&rsquo;s a big project deadline and you have to do some critical thinking around it, and the buzz when that comes together. I really have to work to activate my brain now.
<h3>Might you go back to that after the track career?</h3>
I could see myself going back into that in the future. It&rsquo;s incredibly interesting. I&rsquo;ve had lots of good connections with my previous employers, I&rsquo;ve gone back to do talks or just to see them. I hope there&rsquo;d be a route back in. But who knows where running will go? In my mind it used to be just track and plan to do that through to LA and beyond but then there&rsquo;s the whole thing with the roads, and I love the running lifestyle so we&rsquo;ll see year by year.
<h3>Do you ever get a chance to reflect on your journey?</h3>
I do a bit, and I carry that perspective quite a lot when I race. I think that&rsquo;s one of the things that makes me quite a good competitor because I can see beyond the race in a way that lots of people I line up with can't. All they know is running and that's all they&rsquo;ve done whereas I&rsquo;ve worked a 9 to 5 job for seven years in an office and I think that means when I step up to race, I&rsquo;m going to take the moment with both hands and not leave anything out there, but I also know that if it goes terribly wrong, it&rsquo;s going to be OK. So it&rsquo;s a nice kind of freedom in racing which I think works really well.
<h3>What do your former work colleagues make of all your success?</h3>
After winning Commonwealth Games gold, I had a load of messages from people I used to work with saying, 'what the hell, I can&rsquo;t believe you&rsquo;re here'. Some came to the Commonwealth Games, some to the London Diamond League or the Diamond League in Zurich. I have quite a nice community.

World Athletics Ultimate Championship

Georgia Hunter Bell has finished on the podium at Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth level but previously worked in cyber security tech sales. The middle-distance runner reflects on her past life in the latest Side Track.

Side Track with Georgia Hunter Bell

Haruka Kitaguchi leapt to global attention in winning the javelin world title in 2023 before adding Olympic glory to her CV a year later. And we asked the Japanese athlete... What's your Ultimate?
Ultimate performance... My final throw at the 2023 World Championships.
Ultimate event (except your event)... Gymnastics.
Ultimate career goal... A memory that will remain in the minds of people all over the world.
Ultimate athlete... Michael Phelps.
Ultimate clash... Karsten Warholm vs Mondo Duplantis over the 100m. Outside of athletics, the women's basketball quarter-final between Japan and Belgium at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Ultimate memory... The World Championships in Budapest in 2023 - my last attempt.
Ultimate venue... The same venue!
Ultimate meal... Sanma (Pacific saury) sushi.
Ultimate night out/night in... Drinking with family, friends or alone.
Ultimate possession... Dream supporters.
Ultimate hidden talent... A flyswatter, and falling asleep the moment I get on a vehicle - as if I&rsquo;d passed out.
Ultimate day off... Sleep as long as possible and eat delicious foods.
Ultimate holiday destination... Go to countries and places I've never visited before then experience their history and culture.
Ultimate pre-competition song... Mr.Simple by Super Junior.
Ultimate movie(s)...&nbsp;Harry Potter and Now You See Me.

Haruka Kitaguchi

What's your Ultimate? Haruka Kitaguchi

The second phase of the Ultimate Fan Challenge has come to an end, and after reviewing hundreds of incredible submissions from fans around the world, we have selected five outstanding finalists - one representing each competition category.
From today until 14 August (23:59 CEST), fans will have the chance to decide who will become the Phase 2 winner and secure the final place in the Ultimate Fan Challenge Final in Budapest.
The winner will join the two finalists from Phase 1, who have already been announced, to compete for the title of Ultimate Fan during the Ultimate Championship in Budapest. As part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience, the finalists will also have the opportunity to meet Usain Bolt and take part in the Ultimate Fan Challenge Final in front of thousands of fans at the stadium.
<h2>Meet the five finalists</h2>
Each finalist has been selected as the winner of one of the following categories:
&middot; Participation &amp; Embodiment Braulio (United States of America) - Forward
&middot; Presence &amp; Pilgrimage Pedro (United Kingdom) - Wheel To Racetrack
&middot; Lifestyle &amp; Culture Jarrell (United States of America) - The calm after the storm
&middot; Emotion &amp; Legacy Bruwer (South Africa) - The prestige cup
&middot; Community &amp; Sharing Kayla (France) - Beyond borders
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/ultimateathleticschampionship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Discover all the finalist here and vote for your favourite</a>.
Every finalist has shown a unique passion for athletics and demonstrated what it truly means to be part of our global athletics community.
<h2>How to vote</h2>
Voting is simple.
Visit the official <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ultimateathleticschampionship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ultimate Championship Instagram account</a> between 10 August and 14 August (23:59 CEST) and watch the five finalist pieces of content.
To vote, simply like the post featuring your favourite finalist. The finalist whose post receives the most likes by the end of the voting period will be crowned the Phase 2 winner and earn a trip to Budapest for the Ultimate Championship.
Don't miss your chance to help decide who will become the final contestant in the race for the Ultimate Fan title!
<h2>Fan battle in Budapest</h2>
In Hungary, the three lucky trip winners will then have the opportunity to undertake a series of challenges in front of packed stands to prove they can be crowned &lsquo;The Ultimate Fan&rsquo;.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a new-for-2026 event bringing together Olympic champions, world champions and Diamond League final winners to fight it out to be crowned the ultimate champion. And you can be there too.
Vote now on the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ultimateathleticschampionship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ultimate Championship Instagram account</a>.

The second phase of the Ultimate Fan Challenge has come to an end, and after reviewing hundreds of incredible submissions from fans around the world, we have selected five outstanding finalists

Ultimate Fan Challenge phase 2 finalists revealed – now it's your turn to decide

Olympic champions, world champions, Diamond League winners battle to be crowned the Ultimate Champion

11-13 SEPTEMBER 2026

SPARKS WILL FLY

<h2 style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">FOLLOW THE STAR JOURNEY TO BUDAPEST</h2>
<div style="padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;"><iframe style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" title="World Athletics Ultimate Championship" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1177317469?autoplay=1&amp;muted=1&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479&amp;loop=1" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/sweden/armand-duplantis-14679502" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLE VAULT &bull; SWE</a>

MONDO DUPLANTIS

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/tara-davis-woodhall-14596561" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LONG JUMP &bull; USA</a>

TARA DAVIS-WOODHALL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/grant-holloway-14516985" target="_blank" rel="noopener">110M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

GRANT HOLLOWAY

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/ukraine/yaroslava-mahuchikh-14739628" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HIGH JUMP &bull; UKR</a>

YAROSLAVA MAHUCHIKH

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/norway/jakob-ingebrigtsen-14653717" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5000M &bull; NOR</a>

JAKOB INGEBRIGTSEN

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/masai-russell-14659011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

MASAI RUSSELL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/canada/ethan-katzberg-14809348" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HAMMER THROW &bull; CAN</a>

ETHAN KATZBERG

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/saint-lucia/julien-alfred-14646562" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &bull; LCA</a>

JULIEN ALFRED

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/greece/miltiadis-tentoglou-14669734" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LONG JUMP &bull; GRE</a>

MILTIADIS TENTOGLOU

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/keely-hodgkinson-14642894" target="_blank" rel="noopener">800M &bull; GBR</a>

KEELY HODGKINSON

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/rai-benjamin-14574865" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

RAI BENJAMIN

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/nina-kennedy-14407592" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLE VAULT &bull; AUS</a>

NINA KENNEDY

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/noah-lyles-14536762" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &bull; USA</a>

NOAH LYLES

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/faith-kipyegon-14413305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1500M &bull; KEN</a>

FAITH KIPYEGON

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/japan/haruka-kitaguchi-14649131" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; JPN</a>

HARUKA KITAGUCHI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/commonwealth-of-dominica/thea-lafond-14416826" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TRIPLE JUMP &bull; DMA</a>

THEA LAFOND

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/new-zealand/hamish-kerr-14633982" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HIGH JUMP &bull; NZL</a>

HAMISH KERR

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/botswana/letsile-tebogo-14883897" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200M &bull; BOT</a>

LETSILE TEBOGO

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/dominican-republic/marileidy-paulino-14749613" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; DOM</a>

MARILEIDY PAULINO

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/cole-hocker-14905834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1500M &bull; USA</a>

COLE HOCKER

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/gabrielle-thomas-14733520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200M &bull; USA</a>

GABRIELLE THOMAS

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/emmanuel-wanyonyi-14974928" target="_blank" rel="noopener">800M &bull; KEN</a>

EMMANUEL WANYONYI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/beatrice-chebet-14749924" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5000M &bull; KEN</a>

BEATRICE CHEBET

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/pakistan/arshad-nadeem-14698105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; PAK</a>

ARSHAD NADEEM

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/quincy-hall-14597236" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; USA</a>

QUINCY HALL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/sydney-mclaughlin-levrone-14624749" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN-LEVRONE

Qualified by winning in Paris

Olympic champions

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/lilian-odira-14758184" target="_blank" rel="noopener">800M &bull; KEN</a>

LILIAN ODIRA

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/italy/mattia-furlani-14905216" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LONG JUMP &bull; ITA</a>

MATTIA FURLANI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/switzerland/ditaji-kambundji-14739461" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M HURDLES &bull; SUI</a>

DITAJI KAMBUNDJI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/noah-lyles-14536762" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200M &bull; USA</a>

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/botswana/busang-collen-kebinatshipi-14935809" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; BOT</a>

COLLEN KEBINATSHIPI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/nicola-olyslagers-14455361" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HIGH JUMP &bull; AUS</a>

NICOLA OLYSLAGERS

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/jamaica/oblique-seville-14737998" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &bull; JAM</a>

OBLIQUE SEVILLE

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/melissa-jefferson-wooden-14756997" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &amp; 200M &bull; USA</a>

MELISSA JEFFERSON-WOODEN

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/cole-hocker-14905834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5000M &bull; USA</a>

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/katie-moon-14373744" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLE VAULT &bull; USA</a>

KATIE MOON

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/portugal/isaac-nader-14756630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1500M &bull; POR</a>

ISAAC NADER

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/netherlands/femke-bol-14707010" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M HURDLES &bull; NED</a>

FEMKE BOL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/cordell-tinch-14719972" target="_blank" rel="noopener">110M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

CORDELL TINCH

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/cuba/leyanis-perez-hernandez-14828679" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TRIPLE JUMP &bull; CUB</a>

LEYANIS PEREZ HERNANDEZ

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/trinidad-and-tobago/keshorn-walcott-14376122" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; TTO</a>

KESHORN WALCOTT

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/ecuador/juleisy-angulo-14718123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; ECU</a>

JULEISY ANGULO

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/sydney-mclaughlin-levrone-14624749" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; USA</a>

Qualified by winning in Tokyo

World champions

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

<center>Global Partner</center>
&nbsp;
<a href="https://wizzair.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="margin: auto; max-width: 300px; display: block;" src="https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/ultimate/Ultimate_Partner_WizzAir_3.png" /></a>
&nbsp;
<center>Global Suppliers</center>
&nbsp;
<div style="margin: auto;"><center><a href="https://www.lastrep.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="margin: auto; max-width: 200px; display: block;" src="https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/ultimate/Ultimate_Partner_LastRep.png" /></a><a href="https://www.nissin-foods.eu/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="margin: auto; max-width: 200px; display: block;" src="https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/ultimate/Ultimate_Partner_Nissin.png" /></a></center></div>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

World Athletics Ultimate Championship – debuting 11-13 September 2026 in Budapest – register now for info

World Athletics releases Ultimate Anthem: 'Gold' by Mondo Duplantis

Original song and accompanying music video launch globally ahead of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship

Competition innovations and technical regulations announced ahead of Ultimate Championship

World Athletics has announced a series of competition innovations and technical regulations ahead of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

Coaching class with Joanna Hayes

Joanna Hayes is a former 100m hurdler who won Olympic gold at the Athens Games in 2004 before later turning to coaching. She now guides, among others, the three-time Olympi...

What's your Ultimate? Yaroslava Mahuchikh

Yaroslava Mahuchikh claimed the world title in Budapest in 2023 before going on to become crowned Olympic champion the following year. Ahead of her return to the Hungarian ...

Ridgeon: Ultimate Championship can give athletics something genuinely new

When a major championship succeeds, there is nothing quite like it