After the agony of successive world silvers, Briton emulates Kelly Holmes with 800m victory in Paris
Gold at last. After three consecutive silver medals in global championships, Keely Hodgkinson took top spot on the Olympic podium with a command performance at the Stade de France on Monday night (August 5).
Twenty years on from Dame Kelly Holmes’ golden run in Athens, Great Britain has an 800m Olympic champion once again. Hodgkinson ran 1:56.72 to clinch the victory she so dearly wanted, looking in complete control until the moment she crossed the line and the emotion threatened to overwhelm her.
After an embrace with world champion and rival Mary Moraa – who tied badly in the closing stages and was beaten to silver by Tsige Duguma, the Ethiopian producing a PB of 1:57.15 move clear of the Kenyan’s 1:57.42 – Hodgkinson took a deep breath and the moment began to sank in. She whooped, skipped and leapt her way across the purple track with joy.
Unlike last year’s World Championships, there were to be no first-lap fireworks this time, but Hodgkinson had positioned herself at the head of the pack as she took the bell in 58.30, with Moraa and world indoor champion Duguma right with her.
This was the Briton’s chance, though. The expectations upon her shoulders were huge but she is a different athlete to the one who flew to a surprise silver medal in Tokyo three years ago.
There was World Championships agony in Oregon at coming second to Athing Mu in 2022, then hurt in Hungary as this time Moraa beat her to the punch last summer. It all served as motivation and, when her American foe failed to qualify for Paris, Hodgkinson shot into the role of favourite.
She played it well and, reaching 200m to go, hit the accelerator to make her bid for the glittering prize. Moraa tried to match her but, as they hit the final straight, Hodgkinson was already pulling away.
(Getty)
“That was absolutely incredible,” said Hodgkinson. “I’ve worked so hard over the last year and you could see how much it meant to me as I crossed the line. I can’t believe I’ve finally done it. It means so much to me. And to do it here, where better?. The audience was absolutely incredible, it felt like a home crowd to me. So I’m super happy.
“I wanted to be up near the front anyway, probably quicker after the first lap, but doing the semi-final and the final back to back everyone was tired. It’s tough. I trusted myself, I could feel Mary coming at me down the back straight. But I showed…
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