# Janet Bell
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{{Short description|British female runner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Janet Bell
née Prictoe
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = British (English)
| sport = [Athletics](/source/Sport_of_Athletics)
| event = middle-distance
| club = Lincoln AC
| birth_date = 15 January 1959
| birth_place = Marlboorugh, Wiltshire, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height =
| weight =
| pb =
| medaltemplates=
}}
'''Janet Bell''' (née '''Prictoe''', born 15 January 1959) is an English former [middle-distance runner](/source/Middle-distance_running) who specialised in the [800 metres](/source/800_metres). She won the 1987 [AAA Indoor Championships](/source/AAA_Indoor_Championships) title and went on to finish fifth in the 800m finals at the [1987 World Indoor Championships](/source/1987_IAAF_World_Indoor_Championships) and [1988 European Indoor Championships](/source/1988_European_Athletics_Indoor_Championships).
==Early life==
Janet is the only daughter of Ione Tognini. She grew up in Lincoln, and attended [Lincoln Girls' High School](/source/Lincoln_Christ's_Hospital_School), a grammar school. [''Lincolnshire Echo'' Monday 15 July 1974, page 10][''Lincolnshire Echo'' Wednesday 19 July 1978]
==Career==
Prictoe finished third behind [Christina Boxer](/source/Christina_Boxer) in the 800 metres event at the [1977 WAAA Championships](/source/1977_WAAA_Championships).[{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004941/19770821/519/0031 |title=Athletics |work=Sunday Express |date=21 August 1977 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=9 March 2025 }}][{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=9 March 2025}}]
In 1978, Prictoe was second in the 800 metres at the UK Championships in 2:04.78, and second again behind Christina Boxer at the [1978 WAAA Championships](/source/1978_WAAA_Championships) in 2:03.11, just one-one hundredth of a second behind the winner.[{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=9 March 2025 }}] She went on to compete at the [1978 European Championships](/source/1978_European_Athletics_Championships), where she was eliminated in the heats. She also finished second at the 1979 AAAs Championships behind [Christine Benning](/source/Christine_Benning).
Prictoe's third-place finish at the 1981 AAAs Indoor Championships behind [Kirsty McDermott](/source/Kirsty_Wade) and [Lorraine Baker](/source/Lorraine_Baker) would be her last medal at a national championships until she won the 1987 AAAs indoor title in 2:04.18, ahead of Baker.[{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaai.htm |work=GBR athletics |title=AAAs Indoor women |accessdate=29 November 2016}}]
Prictoe married Alan Bell in Barnsley during 1986 and competed under her married name thereafter.[{{cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?r=278538275:4393&d=bmd_1740370513 |title=Marriages |website=Free BMD |access-date=8 March 2025 }}]
At the [1987 European Indoor Championships](/source/1987_European_Athletics_Indoor_Championships), Bell ran 2:03.24 in her heat to qualify for the final as a fastest loser, where she finished seventh in 2:05.92. A month later at the [1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships](/source/1987_IAAF_World_Indoor_Championships) in Indianapolis, she ran 2:03.45 to finish second in her heat and improved to 2:02.96 for fifth in the final. Outdoors, she finished third at the UK Championships behind [Diane Edwards](/source/Diane_Modahl) and [Shireen Bailey](/source/Shireen_Bailey) in 2:02.41, before achieving her lifetime best with 2:01.40 on 11 July at the Crystal Palace in London.[{{cite web|url=http://www.thepowerof10.info/rankings/rankinglist.aspx?event=800&agegroup=ALL&sex=W&alltime=y |work=Power of 10 |title= 800m women overall all-time | accessdate=29 November 2016}}]
In 1988, Bell finished second at the AAAs Indoor Championships behind [Dawn Gandy](/source/Dawn_Gandy) in 2:06.01, before again reaching the final of the 800m at the [European Indoor Championships](/source/1988_European_Athletics_Indoor_Championships), finishing fifth in an indoor best of 2:02.70, which at the time ranked her fourth on the British all-time indoor list behind [Jane Colebrook](/source/Jane_Colebrook), [Liz Barnes](/source/Liz_Barnes) and [Kirsty Wade](/source/Kirsty_Wade).[{{cite web |url=https://www.gbrathletics/uk/iwu99.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=UK all-time indoor lists (women) |accessdate=21 March 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}] She went on to run 2:03.77 to finish fourth at the [1988 UK Championships](/source/1988_UK_Athletics_Championships) in June, behind [Christina Cahill](/source/Christina_Cahill), Wade and Gandy. At the [1988 AAA Championships](/source/1988_AAA_Championships)/Olympic trials in August 1988, she finished fourth behind Wade, [Shireen Bailey](/source/Shireen_Bailey) and [Helen Thorpe](/source/Helen_Thorpe_(athlete)).
==Competition record==
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
!colspan=6|Representing {{GBR2}}
|-
|1978
|[European Championships](/source/1978_European_Athletics_Championships)
|[Prague](/source/Prague), Czechoslovakia
|17th (h)
|800 m
|2:03.7
|-
|rowspan=2|1987
|[European Indoor Championships](/source/1987_European_Athletics_Indoor_Championships)
|[Lievin](/source/Lievin), France
|7th
|800 m
|2:05.92
|-
|[World Indoor Championships](/source/1987_IAAF_World_Indoor_Championships)
|[Indianapolis](/source/Indianapolis), United States
|5th
|800 m
|2:02.96
|-
|1988
|[European Indoor Championships](/source/1988_European_Athletics_Indoor_Championships)
|[Budapest](/source/Budapest), Hungary
|5th
|800 m
|2:02.70
|-
!colspan=6|'''National Championships'''
|-
|1977
|[AAA Championships](/source/1977_WAAA_Championships)
|[London](/source/London), England
|bgcolor=cc996|3rd
|800 m
|2:04.88
|-
|rowspan=2|1978
|[UK Championships](/source/1978_UK_Athletics_Championships)
|[Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh), Scotland
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|800 m
|2:04.78
|-
|[AAA Championships](/source/1978_WAAA_Championships)
|London, England
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|800 m
|2:03.11
|-
|1979
|[AAA Championships](/source/1979_WAAA_Championships)
|London, England
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|800 m
|2:01.66
|-
|1981
|[AAA Indoor Championships](/source/AAA_Indoor_Championships)
|[RAF Cosford](/source/RAF_Cosford), England
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|800 m
|2:11.5
|-
|rowspan=2|1986
|[UK Championships](/source/1986_UK_Athletics_Championships)
|[Cwmbran](/source/Cwmbran), Wales
|9th (h)
|800 m
|2:06.79
|-
|[AAA Championships](/source/1986_WAAA_Championships)
|Birmingham, England
|11th (h)
|800 m
|2:07.82
|-
|rowspan=2|1987
|AAA Indoor Championships
|RAF Cosford, England
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 m
|2:04.18
|-
|[UK Championships](/source/1987_UK_Athletics_Championships)
|[Derby](/source/Derby), England
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|800 m
|2:02.41
|-
|rowspan=3|1988
|AAA Indoor Championships
|RAF Cosford, England
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|800 m
|2:06.01
|-
|[UK Championships](/source/1988_UK_Athletics_Championships)
|Derby, England
|4th
|800 m
|2:03.77
|-
|[AAA Championships](/source/1988_AAA_Championships)
|Birmingham, England
|4th
|800 m
|2:??.??
|-
!colspan=6|''' (h) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats'''
|}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{World Athletics}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Janet}}
Category:1959 births
Category:Alumni of Loughborough University
Category:British women middle-distance runners
Category:English women middle-distance runners
Category:Sportspeople from Lincoln, England
Category:Living people
Category:20th-century English sportswomen
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Janet Bell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Bell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Bell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.