Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson left zero doubt that she could thrive on the Olympic stage by taking the gold in the women’s 800m on Monday in 1:56.72.
With reigning champion American Athing Mu out of the mix, the field was hotly contested in the qualifying rounds as there seemed to be a question of who would be the favorite heading into the final. Hodgkinson answered the call, with a deciding surge from the pack on the final turn.
“I just wanted to get out hard,” she said. “It was going to be a battle to get in position. Stuck to my lane, kept composed and kept kicking to the line.”
With just over 100m, she held off a late kick from Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1.57.15) who took sliver and reigning world champion, Kenya’s Mary Moraa (1:57.42) with the bronze.
The 22-year-old Hodgkinson masterfully executed a pair of 58 second laps and become the first British woman to win the Olympic 800m gold since Kelly Holmes in 2024 in Athens.
Hodgkinson never seemed disrupted as the pack held close for most of the opening lap. She stayed near or in the lead for most of the race as Moraa and Duguma kept pace with Hodgkinson glued to the inside of lane one.
“I felt like it could’ve been harder through the first 400 but you can’t predict what happens in the final,” she said. “I just wanted to stay out of trouble. I didn’t mind being at the front — I felt comfortable there. I could feel Mary coming on my shoulder on the last 300 meters and I knew people were piling up behind [us].”
In July she clocked a new British record of 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League, her final tune-up before trials. Monday’s win was confirmation that she was locked in and would be the deciding factor in the final moments of the race.
“I’ve always believed in myself but until you’ve actually done it — nothing is written, she said.”
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