Keely Hodgkinson wins the 800m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
Becoming an Olympic champion at 22 years of age is incredible by any standards. Earning a fourth successive global medal by that age is even more remarkable.
Following her runner-up finishes at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and the past two World Championships, Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson finally landed a senior global title, claiming gold in the women's 800m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
She went into the race as the favourite to win, having clocked a world-leading 1:54.61 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London last month, and easing through the rounds here in Paris with a 1:59.31 heat win and 1:56.86 semifinal victory.
But championship 800m races can be unpredictable at the best of times, and Hodgkinson knew better than to underestimate the challenge of world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and world indoor champion Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia.
Hodgkinson also knew she could not waste this opportunity, so had to do her best to control the race, ready to respond to any potential threat from her opponents. And that’s exactly what she did; when Duguma raced ahead in the first 200 metres, Hodgkinson calmly followed and then eased herself into the lead as she approached the home straight for the first time, leading the pack as they covered the first lap in 58.30.
Moraa and Duguma were positioned ominously close behind, though, while South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso and Shafiqua Moloney of St Vincent and the Grenadines were in the middle of the pack – all of them capable of a fast finishing kick.
Hodgkinson moved up a gear with 200 metres to go, but Moraa did likewise and tried to move on to the Briton’s shoulder. Hodgkinson just about kept the world champion at bay on the final bend, but had saved an extra gear for the final stretch.
With victory in sight, Hodgkinson kicked one last time and powered away from a fading Moraa, who was passed in the closing stages by Duguma.
Having produced near even splits of 58.30 and 58.41, Hodgkinson crossed the line in 1:56.72 to take gold ahead of Duguma (1:57.15) and Moraa (1:57.42). Moloney finished fourth in 1:57.66, achieving the best ever finish for her country at the Olympics in any sport.
France’s Renelle Lamote, cheered on by a vocal home crowd, placed fifth in 1:58.19, 0.09 ahead of Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele. USA’s Juliette Whittaker (1:58.50) and Sekgodiso (1:58.79) rounded out the finishers.
Hodgkinson becomes the third British woman to win an Olympic 800m title, following Ann Packer in 1964 and Kelly Holmes in 2004. Duguma, meanwhile, earned Ethiopia’s first ever Olympic medal over 800m.
"I've worked so hard over the past year and you could see how much it meant to me as I crossed the line," said Hodgkinson. "I feel like I've really grown over the past couple of years and this year is the year I've really tried to make that step up. I knew to cross that line first I had to go one better than I ever had.
"I could feel Mary (Moraa) coming at me down the back straight. But I trusted myself and showed composure. And I got to the line first this time."
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
| WOMEN'S 800m MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) | 1:56.72 |
| 🥈 | Tsige Duguma (ETH) | 1:57.15 PB |
| 🥉 | Mary Moraa (KEN) | 1:57.42 |
| Full results | ||
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