PARIS, (Reuters) – Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson delivered a command performance to win the gold medal in the Olympic 800 metres yesterday and claim her first global title.
Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma claimed silver and Kenya’s Mary Moraa took bronze.
The fastest in the world over the distance this year, 22-year-old Hodgkinson took the lead halfway through the first lap and held off an attack from Duguma to finish in one minute 56.72 seconds.
Hodgkinson had arrived in Paris on a high and was heavy favourite to win gold. She set a new personal best of 1:54.61 in London three weeks ago, a result that made her the sixth-fastest woman of all time over two laps.
“It’s something that I’ve dreamed of so much it hasn’t actually sunk in yet,” Hodgkinson told reporters.
“The crowd was just absolutely incredible, it felt like a home Olympics for me. It just made the moment super special and I’m super happy,” she added.
Hodgkinson won silver in Tokyo when she was just 19, and had high hopes of victory in Paris after also taking silver in the 2022 and 2023 world championships.