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G<\/span>eorgia Hunter Bell will next week be picked for the 800m and 1500m in Britain\u2019s world championships team, all being well. But the dilemma over whether to actually contest both will only just have begun.<\/p>\n Not since Hunter Bell\u2019s mentor Kelly Holmes claimed two memorable Olympic golds in 2004 has a British athlete even attempted the audacious middle-distance double at a global championships.<\/p>\n So long as Hunter Bell, the former parkrunner, finishes in the top two over 800m \u2013 and it would be an almighty shock if she does not \u2013 at this weekend\u2019s UK Championships in Birmingham, she will secure qualification over the shorter distance alongside the guaranteed 1500m spot that comes with last year\u2019s Olympic bronze<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have asked to be selected for both,\u201d confirmed Jenny Meadows, who coaches Hunter Bell alongside her husband, Trevor Painter. \u201cWhether she does the double or not is another thing to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Meadows explained further: \u201cIf the 800m was first [at next month\u2019s world championships], which is the way Kelly won it when she got the double gold in Athens, we would do the double.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the 1500m is first and I think it\u2019s a harder task running three 1500m and then dropping down to the speedier event afterwards. So I\u2019m not convinced we will double. I\u2019m thinking we might pick one event over the other.<\/p>\n \u201cShe has got one more Diamond League over both events: the 1500m in Silesia on August 16 and the 800m in Lausanne on the 20th. The final selection for the British team is on August 26 so we will be letting them know after the 20th what she wants to do.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes she stay in both events or does she come out of one and just stick with the other? Lots of things are up in the air, but it\u2019s a brilliant position to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n That Hunter Bell, 31, is a genuine medal contender over both distances remains remarkable. A high-achieving junior, she retired from athletics for five years in 2017, and just two years ago was only contesting local meets and parkruns. Now she is the second-fastest woman in the world this year over 800m \u2013 winning Diamond League events in Stockholm and London<\/a> over the distance \u2013 and fourth fastest over 1500m.<\/p>\n