He had a perfect view of the drama that unfolded as a bottle was thrown from the crowd, landing just behind the athletes a split-second before the starter's gun was fired.
"The bottle came from out of the crowd, and towards me," Bell said. "I was aware of some movement but I didn't actually see a bottle. Thankfully, none of the athletes either saw it or heard it either because it actually hit the track between the blocks and the lane markers.
"The next thing I saw was two men pinning a bloke to the ground. Then one of my start team picked up the bottle and we all went 'Bloody hell!' I took the bottle to a plain-clothed policeman who was standing in the tunnel.
"He said: 'You shouldn't give it to me. You should wait until those guys make an arrest and give it to them as evidence'. It was only then that I became aware that the two men were also police officers."
Despite the rumpus, Bell, who had quite rightly disqualified Bolt from the 2011 World Championship final for false starting, was still able to enjoy an occasion he says he will never experience again. Not that he ever really doubted Bolt would prevail.
"I knew that if he was anywhere near physically and psychologically right, he was still better than anyone else in the world, and that was proven," Bell said. "He's gone down in the history books. He's done many things that we'll never see again in our lifetime."
The crowd had another reason to exercise their vocal chords as local girl Christine Ohuruogu turned back the clock with a storming 400m run to take the silver medal behind her American nemesis, Sanya Richards-Ross. Had it been a 410m race, the fast-finishing Ohuruogu might well have celebrating her second Olympic victory just a mile from the Stratford family home where she grew up.
Across the water in Greenwich, Britain's run of success in the gymnastics arena continued as Louis Smith and Max Whitlock won silver and bronze respectively on the pommel horse. Agonisingly, Smith missed out on the gold by the narrowest of margins as Hungarian Krisztian Berki tied Smith on 16.066 points but won on a countback.
In Weymouth, Ben Ainslie was also embroiled in perhaps his toughest Olympic battle – escaping the clutches of over-excited BBC reporter Rob Walker who held him in a vice-like embrace as he screamed: "What a week. What a regatta. What a moment. You are the greatest Olympic sailor in history."
Ainslie looked far from amused, though the Finn sailor could at least content himself with a fourth consecutive gold medal following an epic battle with Denmark's Jonas Hogh-Christensen that ended in victory for the Englishman by the narrowest of margins.
Trailing Hogh-Christensen going into the final medal race and needing to finish ahead of him to retain his Olympic title, Ainslie observed: "I have never sailed in such a nerve-wracking race in my life." He has since announced his retirement from Olympic sailing.
Back on dry land, Andy Murray was celebrating his first ever Olympic gold medal after an extraordinary straight-sets triumph over Roger Federer on Wimbledon's Centre Court.
The Scot, who had not always enjoyed the full-hearted backing of an occasionally frosty Centre Court crowd, said he had never experienced anything like the atmosphere in SW19 that day, and he was not alone: even the officials were affected.
"Normally, before a big match I like to go outside and relax a bit," said Portuguese umpire Carlos Ramos, who has been officiating at the All England Club fors 21 years. "I go and see what people look like and get the vibe from the crowd and then I go into the court early to get a feeling for the atmosphere.
"For the Olympic final, the atmosphere was unique. I've never seen an atmosphere like that for a tennis match. It felt like people were up for something really special and they ended up getting it.
"The patriotic feeling was there a lot more than it's ever been before for Andy. The support was definitely more one-sided than it usually is.
"I think with Team GB doing so well, people got even more carried away and were displaying their patriotism even more, but in a very good and fair way. The crowd was never unfair with any of the players and they never disrupted the game.
"For me, ever since the Beijing Olympics, tennis has become very, very big at the Olympics and to have the Olympics at Wimbledon and with a British player in the final was just incredible."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"A drunken spectator threw a bottle onto the track! I HAVE BEATEN HIM.... unbelievable. Mad disrespectful".
Edith Bosch, the Dutch judoka, reveals on Twitter how she took decisive action on a rowdy fan just before the 100m final
BRITISH MEDALLISTS
GOLD
- Ben Ainslie Sailing, finn class
- Andy Murray Tennis, men's singles
SILVER
- Iain Percy, Andrew Simpson Sailing, star class
- Louis Smith Gymnastics, men's pommel horse
- Andy Murray, Laura Robson Tennis, mixed doubles
- Christine Ohuruogu Athletics, women's 400 m
BRONZE
- Max Whitlock Gymnastics, men's pommel horse
- Ed Clancy Cycling, men's omnium
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