Cold comfort for Keely Hodgkinson in successful Euro title defence

British 800m star triumphs in Rome despite a mild illness on a night that also sees endurance victories for Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Dominic Lobalu

Keely Hodgkinson’s successful defence of her European 800m crown on Wednesday (June 12) in Rome was nothing to be sniffed at. After making a last-minute choice to race despite feeling under the weather with a head cold, the 22-year-old’s decision paid off as she clocked 1:58.65 to win gold.

With rumours swirling around the Stadio Olimpico all evening that she might not run, Hodgkinson decided “10 minutes before going into the call room” to take her place in the final. “I do believe in myself,” she said, “and I thought the best way, the easiest way and the safest way to do it was to go to the front and control it and I backed my strength and speed to deliver the gold.”

She did exactly that, leading through 400m in 58.55, controlling the pace from the front, kicking into the home straight and then holding off a plucky late challenge from Gabriela Gajanová of the Slovak Republic.

“I wasn’t expecting to win and it was my dream to simply win a medal because I have a lot of respect for Keely because she’s an amazing athlete,” Gajanová told AW.

With a PB that was more than three seconds quicker than any of her rivals, Hodgkinson was one of the hottest favourites at these European Championships. Racing with a cold, though, evened the odds a bit.

Hodgkinson said if she had been training instead of racing then she may still have run with the head cold but probably not hard. Now she plans to take a couple of days off before building back for the UK Championships in a fortnight’s time in Manchester.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen leads Neil Gourley and Ossama Meslek (Getty)

Ingebrigtsen hits them for six

Jakob Ingebrigtsen was a class apart in the men’s 1500m as he won a record sixth gold medal at the European Championships. With a ‘triple double’ of 1500m and 5000m victories, the 23-year-old from Norway is the most successful male athlete in the 90-year history of these championships.

Controlling the race from the front in the last couple of laps before easing away from his rivals effortlessly in the final 120 metres, Ingebrigtsen came home in a championship record of 3:31.95 to add to his 5000m triumph from earlier in the week.

His closest rival, Jochem Vermuelen of Belgium, was well over a second behind in 3:33.30. In the scrap for minor medals, Pietro Arese of Italy…