Alexandra Bell (born 4 November 1992) is a British athlete who competed for Great Britain in the 800 metres event at the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, and for England at the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

Career

Alexandra Bell competes for Pudsey & Bramley Athletics Club. In 2016, she competed at her first

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

fixture, finishing seventh, and was the fifth fastest British

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

runner. In 2018, she competed for the first time at the

Great Edinburgh International Cross Country The Great Edinburgh International Cross Country was an annual cross country running competition that took place every January in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was one of the competitions in the Great Run series of athletics events and was held along ...

. Bell finished fifth in the 800 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. In May that year, she became the first British woman to run 800 metres in under 2 minutes at the British Milers’ Club Grand Prix. In July, she was not selected for the 800 m event at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, despite having run faster than two of the athletes selected. In September 2019, Bell won the 800 m representing Europe in "The Match", a team competition against the US in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus. She reached the semi-final of the 800 m at the 2019 World Championships in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, setting a personal best time of 1:59.82. In December that year, she was critical of

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

after not being included on the elite lottery funding list. In May 2021, Bell ran faster than the 800 m Olympic qualifying time at the Belfast Irish Milers. The event did not award points towards Olympic qualification, as it didn't have a European Permit. She finished fifth at the

2021 British Athletics Championships The 2021 British Athletics Championships was the national championships in outdoor track and field for athletes in the United Kingdom, which also served as the main qualifying event for athletics competitors for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics ...

event, which doubled up as the Olympic trial event. Bell was not initially selected for the delayed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, when the athletics squad was announced in June 2021. On 8 July, she was selected for the 800 metres event at the Games, replacing

Laura Muir Laura Muir (; born 9 May 1993) is a Scottish Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She is the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having prev ...

, who had qualified for the event but later decided not to compete as she wanted to focus on the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

race. In the Olympic final, Bell finished seventh in a personal best time of 1:57.66. Bell was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 800 m at the 2022 World Championships in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

in July. She was selected for the 800 metres event at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

held in August in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

that year, and finished sixth in the final.Final results
/ref> The same month, she placed sixth in the event at the

staged in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Personal bests

– 1:57.66 (

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

2021)

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Alexandra 1992 births Living people English female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes from Leeds 21st-century English sportswomen