Having publicly declared herself to be “sick of silver” after 2nd places in Tokyo and then the ’22 and ’23 Worlds, Keely Hodgkinson was never going to settle for anything less than 800 gold in Paris.
It showed in the determination etched across her face for the 1:56.72 it took her to cover 2 laps of the Stade de France, before the Briton erupted into smiles and tears of delight as she hugged a 100-strong contingent of friends and family in the stands.
It was a controlled and confident performance from Hodgkinson, who had the role of marginal favorite after Athing Mu’s fall in the U.S. Olympic Trials and Kenya’s ’23 world champion Mary Moraa’s lack of racing during the summer.
Hodgkinson moved to the front just after the break and by 200 meters into the race she was controlling the pace from the front, going through the bell in 58.30 and staying in pole position through the next 200 meters.
Despite being challenged by Moraa with a furlong to go, Hodgkinson held the inside line around the last bend, forcing her Kenyan rival to go wide. The Briton always looked to have another gear while Moraa looked to be at her limit.
Coming into the home straight, Hodgkinson then sprinted away from the field to get the gold and end her 3-year quest to stand on top of the podium at a global championships.
“That was absolutely incredible. I’ve worked so hard for this over the last year and I think you could see how much it meant to me when I crossed the line,” said Hodgkinson.
“What better place to do it. It felt like a home crowd, even though we’re in Paris as there’s so many Brits in the stadium. I wanted to be near the front [on the first lap] and it was probably quicker than I wanted it to be at the bell but I think everyone was tired with back-to-back semis and final, but I had something saved for the last 100.”
Behind Hodgkinson, the tiring Moraa was caught by Ethiopia’s surprise package, Tsige Duguma, 30 meters from the line, the latter PRing with 1:57.15.
Moraa had enough in the tank to take bronze in 1:57.42, just holding off St Vincent’s fast-finishing Shafiqua Moloney with the former Arkansas Razorback just missing out on getting her country’s first-ever Olympic medal in any sport. Moloney’s 4th-place 1:57.66 followed upon smashing her NR in both the…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Track & Field News…