GB strike golden treble at world indoors with Hodgkinson, Hunter Bell and Caudery

Shortly before 8pm here in Torun, Georgia Hunter Bell, Molly Caudery and Keely Hodgkinson were jumping in delight and pure delirium after what was undoubtedly the greatest 29 minutes for Britain in world indoor athletics championship history.

Not one gold medal. Not two. But three. All in under 30 minutes. And as they waved the Union Jacks above their heads, and a phalanx of photographers crowded around them, you couldn’t blame them and the British fans in the crowd for getting more than a little giddy.

Only once before during the London 2012 Olympics has there been anything like this. And Super Saturday, this was Spectacular Sunday.

The gold rush started with Hunter Bell hauling in the Ethiopian Girke Haylom on the last lap before powering away to take 1500m gold. Then, 15 minutes later, Caudery won the pole vault with a clearance of 4.85m. The icing on the cake was then provided by Hodgkinson, who powered clear to win a brilliant 800m gold.

Georgia Hunter Bell reacts after crossing the finish line to win gold in the women’s 1500m final. Photograph: Petr David Josek/AP

In 2012 Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah won three gold medals in 44 minutes at the London 2012 Olympics. This wasn’t that, of course. But what a boost to the sport to see three brilliant British women on top of the world.

And what stories all three of them have too. In 2017 Hunter Bell quit a promising track career because her body was broken. But in 2022 she started running again with a parkrun on a cold March day in Bushy Park, south-west London. Two years later, aged 30, she was Olympic bronze medalist. Now, at 32, she is a world champion.

“I just thought be patient,” said Hunter Bell, who finished in 3min 58.53sec, nearly a second ahead of Australia’s Jessica Hull, who took silver in 3:59.54 “I backed myself. The crowd were amazing and this track is so fast. I’ve had bronze, I’ve had silver, so to get my first gold medal makes me really happy.”

Caudery, meanwhile, has spent two painful years battling injuries and mishaps since winning world indoor gold in Glasgow two years ago. Last September at the world championship in Tokyo she rupturing ligaments in her ankle in the warm up and spent six weeks in a boot. Now, incredibly, she is world champion too after clearing 4.85m.

“You wouldn’t believe the last six months I have had,” she said, after beating Slovenia’s Tina Sutej into silver. “I just trusted myself and I am so happy.”

Molly Caudery on her way to gold in the women’s pole vault. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

And then there was Hodgkinson, who is surely Britain’s greatest athlete after this latest demolition job.

After the Paris Olympics, she didn’t race at all for 376 days because of three separate hamstring injuries, the last of which came following an eight-hour round trip to Windsor Castle to collect her MBE in May. At times she got so frustrated that one of her coaches, Trevor Painter, got her a Himalyian salt lamp to try to calm her down. Now too, she is back at the top of the world too.

Victory came in classic Hodgkinson fashion. She charged to the front after the break before the end of the first lap, and applied the squeeze until her opponent’s pips started to squeak. The first lap was done in 27.24sec and she was through halfway in 56.96sec. At this point her main rival, Aubrey Werro, was still within striking distance but Hodgkinson was soon powering home in 1:55.30.

That smashed the championship record that had stood since 1999, with Werro running creditably to take silver in 1:56.64.

This victory means the Hodgkinson has now completed the set of major medals: Olympics, world and Europeans, indoors and out, and Commonwealth Games. What a day for her. And what a day for Hunter Bell, Caudery and British athletics too.

• This report will update