Alex Bell to captain Great Britain and Northern Ireland at European Cross-Country Championships

A year in which she surprised everyone by reaching an Olympic final ends with Alex Bell having the honour of captaining her country.
By Nick Westby
Published 10th Dec 2021, 17:15 BST
Updated 10th Dec 2021, 17:37 BST
Great Britain's Alexandra Bell competes in the Women's 800m heats during the athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo (Picture: PA)Great Britain's Alexandra Bell competes in the Women's 800m heats during the athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo (Picture: PA)
Great Britain's Alexandra Bell competes in the Women's 800m heats during the athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo (Picture: PA)

The 29-year-old from Leeds has been chosen as the captain of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for this weekend’s European Cross Country Championships in Fingal-Dublin.

The Pudsey and Bramley athlete has enjoyed a remarkable season, finishing seventh in the Olympic Games 800m final, lowering her personal best to 1:57.66 to move to sixth on the UK all-time standings, and finally earning full UK Sport funding from the National Lottery.

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This weekend, she will race as part of the senior mixed relay team as she looks to match her gold-medal winning display at these championships in Lisbon two years ago.

Olympic finalist Alexandra Bell will captain GB in Dublin this weekend (Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)Olympic finalist Alexandra Bell will captain GB in Dublin this weekend (Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Olympic finalist Alexandra Bell will captain GB in Dublin this weekend (Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Bell joins Luke Duffy of Mansfield, Hannah Nuttall and Benjamin West in the quartet for the Championships in Ireland.

“It is a huge honour to be selected as team captain,” said Bell. “It is as special to me as the first time I received my British vest. I am so happy that I have been nominated to take on this role at this championship, and I’m really looking forward to being a part of this team in Fingal-Dublin.”

On the mixed relay, she added: “It is a really exciting race to be a part of. Year on year we are seeing more and more teams getting involved and they are getting stronger.

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“We are getting stronger too, you can see that by the number of people competing in the trial in Liverpool. The race will be one of the highlights of the weekend, anything can happen in the race and every leg counts.”

Related topics:Great BritainNorthern IrelandLeedsPudseyIreland

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