Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Bell 'must fill her head' after full-time switch

Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Bell will need to ‘fill her head with something’ after turning to athletics full-time for 2025, says coach Trevor Painter.

The 31-year-old, who trains out of Sport City in Manchester, clinched the 1500m bronze medal at the Paris Olympics while balancing a full-time job.

In autumn she quit her role in cyber-security to and Painter understands the perks of being able to commit entirely to the sport - his wife, former 800m World bronze medalist Jenny Meadows, also turned pro after juggling her early track career with a job.

But the BBC Coach of the Year admits Bell may need to channel her spare time wisely and make sure her mind is being kept active, having previously completed a masters degree in the USA.

“She’s lived a fast-paced life all her career,” said Painter, who also coached Keely Hodgkinson to Paris gold in the 800m.

“Her head is probably going to need to be filled with something – maybe another course. Something to take her mind away from the monotony of not doing anything between training.

“But if you can get up, have your breakfast, go to the track fresh, healthy, then the quality of the session is so much better than if you’ve been at work.”

Painter can see plenty of comparisons between Bell and Atherton superstar Hodgkinson, two of the stars of the M11 Track Club which is based in the shadows of the Etihad.

“Georgia is very similar to Keeley in terms of their mindsets, they’re just ridiculous. On a different scale,” said the Wiganer. “Their expectations and belief in what they’re able to do are way more than I have in myself.”

A month after her underdog feat at the Olympics in the 1500m, Bell finished second in the 800m at the Brussels Diamond League, clocking a time of 1min