Keely Hodgkinson storms 6th fastest athlete in history over 800m gold at Paris 2024

Keely Hodgkinson storms to 800m gold at Paris 2024 Keely Hodgkinson (Trevor Painter, Leigh) was crowned Olympic champion with a sensational front-running performance in the women’s 800 metres. The 22-year-old dominated the final from the front and when the late challenge came from Kenya’s Mary Moraa, she surged clear to claim victory in 1:56.72. Hodgkinson became the third British woman after Dame Kelly Holmes and Ann Packer to win the 800m at the Olympics. “I’ve worked so hard for this,” said Hodgkinson. “The crowd was just absolutely incredible. It felt like a home Olympics for me, there are that many Brits in the stadium.keelyhodgkinson storms to a huge national record and world lead in front of her home crowd. She now is the 6th fastest athlete in history over 800m ,Wow Keely Hodgkinson that was a fantastic - and a British,The most deserved gold medal ever. keelyhodgkinson you are an absolute superstar and the whole country is so so proud of you,,keelyhodgkinson gives the home crowd the show they wanted, winning the LondonDL 800m tape-to-tape in 1:54.61, a new British record and the fastest time in the world in 6 years. One of the hottest athletes out there. --When a picture tells a thousand words 🔥 A truly historic 800m at the London Diamond League and it ended up being a British 1-2-3 Keely Hodgkinson ran a national record of 1:54.61 while Jemma Reekie and Georgia Bell both clocked personal bests of 1:55.61 and 1:56.28 respectively,Here’s what Keely Hodgkinson had to say after winning the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 800m: “This last year, all of the focus has been on how I can really level up. This year you’ve really seen me grow as an athlete. It’s the first time I’ve been undefeated going into a championship. I was determined for it to be that way and to find confidence from that. This year I’ve really tried to step up and I’m super glad that I’ve done that Hodgkinson said: “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 composure and I got to the line first this time.” Earlier in the evening, Daryll Neita (Marco Airale, Cambridge Harriers) and Dina Asher-Smith (Edrick Floreal, Blackheath and Bromley) ensured there will be two GB representatives in Tuesday’s final of the women’s 200m. Neita continued her excellent Games by making a second final, having finished fourth in the 100m. She led for the first 150m of her 200m heat before being passed by Brittany Brown of the USA, comfortably progressing with a time of 22.24 (+0.1). “Two finals, you can’t knock that,” said Neita. “It’s an amazing achievement.” Having registered the third-fastest time in the heats, Asher-Smith (Edrick Floreal, Blackheath and Bromley) put in another accomplished performance in the semi-finals. Asher-Smith followed USA’s world silver medallist Gabrielle Thomas home in 22.31 (+0.2) to advance to Tuesday’s showpiece. “It was good because I didn’t use much energy, I’m saving what I can for tomorrow,” she said. In the first heat, Bianca Williams (Linford Christie, Thames Valley) delivered a season’s best run of 22.58 in still air that placed her fourth and saw her exit the competition. “It was a better run than the heat,” said Williams. “It is my best time this year. I’ll take it but it’s not what I wanted. I wanted to run quicker, I know I can run quicker.”