Keely Hodgkinson admitted she “thought I had it” before being pipped to gold in one of the fastest women’s 800m finals in history, as she and training partner Georgia Hunter Bell secured Britain’s first global middle-distance double medal in 41 years.
The Olympic champion produced a blistering run in Tokyo but was overhauled in the final strides by Kenya’s Lilian Odira, who surged past to claim gold in a personal-best 1:54.63.
Hunter Bell produced the race of her life to dip ahead of Hodgkinson on the line, winning silver by a margin of just 0.01 seconds with a time of 1:54.90.
Hodgkinson clocked 1:54.91 – her third-fastest time ever and almost two seconds quicker than the performance that won her Olympic gold in Paris last year.
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Reflecting on the race, Hodgkinson said she had no regrets about taking it out aggressively.
“I felt pretty good at the start and it was quick out there and a bit of tussling and surging that might have wasted a bit of energy but I was in it to win it,” she said.
“When you go in for gold, you risk dropping off the podium or coming second or third.
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Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell pose with their medals at the World Athletics Championships
|REUTERS
"I thought I had it, but [Lilian] Odira ran past and I did my best.
"The last 10 metres my legs were falling off. I ran it how I ran it and this is what the result is.
“I’m happy for the both of us, we both got a medal. To run another 1:54, to be consistent like that after the year I’ve had – it’s not what I came here for, but I can’t be too disappointed.”
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Hodgkinson, 23, had been aiming to become the first British middle-distance runner – male or female – to add a World Championship gold to Olympic success, following a season disrupted by injury.
She immediately sought to control the pace, just as she did in Paris, but had to fend off multiple challenges from defending champion Mary Moraa before Odira’s decisive late charge.
Hunter Bell’s silver also marked a major breakthrough after switching focus from the 1500m.
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Kenya’s Lilian Odira took gold at the World Athletics Championships
|REUTERS
“I wanted to show what I could do in the 800 and I knew I’d have to come in fresh,” she said.
“I’m so happy. I knew it was going to be fast, so I was just like, don’t get dropped and try to hang on to get the kick in the end.
"It’s the fastest time I’ve ever run.”
The pair, who share accommodation in Tokyo and train together at Manchester’s M11 Track Club under Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, delivered Britain’s first double medal in any event at a global championship since Colin Jackson and Tony Jarrett took 110m hurdles silver and bronze in Stuttgart in 1993.
Keely Hodgkinson previously won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer
| PAWith both athletes still only in their early twenties, the result suggests Britain may have a dominant middle-distance pairing for years to come.
Hodgkinson summed up the mood simply: “We came here to win medals – and we’re taking two of them home.”