Britain's Keely Hodgkinson has sights set on 800m European Athletics Championships title defence, and more
The women's 800m European athletics title resides in Britain, safely guarded in the spikes of 800m British Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson.
With all top three seeds in the event on the same team, things look optimistic for the title to remain where it is for a bit longer.
Hodgkinson aims to defend her title as one of the final competitions on the road to the Olympic Games Paris 2024, where she has her sights set on the ultimate gold.*
The European Athletics Championships will take place in Rome from 7-12 June at the Stadio Olimpico. The women’s 800m final takes place on Wednesday 12 June in the historic Italian capital.
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Keely Hodgkinson inching closer and closer to gold
Hodgkinson’s goal has always been gold, but there have been a few obstacles in her way.
At Tokyo 2020, 19-year-old middle-distance running sensation Athing Mu of the United States stole the show by winning the 800m final, taking the first US Olympic title in the event in half a century with a remarkable time of 1:55:21. Also 19 years old, Hodgkinson was the only other athlete in the field to answer to Mu’s kick in the final 100 meters, earning the Brit her first Olympic medal and a (then) personal best of 1:55:88.
Fast forward one year to the Oregon 2022 World Athletics Championships, and the young runners paired off once more. The result the same - gold for Mu, silver for Hodgkinson. This time, however, Hodgkinson was less than one step away from dethroning Mu, as the two twenty-year-olds had the entire stadium on their feet until the finish line. Mary Moraa of Kenya joined them on the podium with a bronze medal.
One more year later, the two faced each other again in the 800m final at Budapest 2023. Up until the final 100 metres, the story looked familiar; Mu in front, trailed by Hodgkinson and Moraa. But, in the home stretch of the women’s two-lap showdown, Moraa and Hodgkinson do the unthinkable, passing the Olympic champion Mu to run their way to becoming world champion and vice world champion, respectively. Another silver for Hodgkinson, but this time crossing the line in front of the Olympic champion.
Less than one month later, Hodgkinson ran a personal best and national record of 1:55:19 at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. Her time was faster than Mu’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic final winning time.
Hodgkinson to make Paris 2024 a golden year
Having missed the latest indoor season due to an injury, Hodgkinson is back and fresh for the Olympic year.
So far, she has started 2024 off right: with gold in Eugene Oregon at the Prefontaine Classic, clocking in with a world lead and her third fastest time ever (1:55:78). This win was a powerful statement from Hodgkinson, as she surged past world champion Moraa to win her first race of the season.
Her times are good, her confidence is high, and it seems that Hodgkinson is only steps away from her dream.
“2024 was the year I initially planned to try and make the Olympics. Tokyo was a really, really nice add-on, but this year, I’m a little bit older, I actually have the experience of already [going] to one, now I'm a full-time athlete as well so I can up the intensity a little bit,” she told ProDirect running.
On an evening in Roma
But first, Hodgkinson will have to defend her European championship title in Rome. She is seeded number one in the event, with compatriots Erin Wallace and Alexandra Bell trailing behind her. Hodgkinson is four seconds faster than the rest of the field and is looking to keep her gold streak all the way to the purple track in Paris.
Hodgkinson won the European title in 2022 in Munich, as well as the U18 European Athletics Championships in Győr in 2018. She also has two indoor 800m short-track European titles, from 2021 and 2023. Needless to say, she wants to make the most of it:
“I would like to win in my career as many medals as possible. And I think if I was to miss it (Roma 2024), I’d be missing out on an opportunity. I’d love to look back on my career and say I did this many European Championships and I won this many medals. I don’t want anything to go to waste. **I also have a title to defend…**So that’s a really good aim for me now. It’s a perfect amount of time away from the Olympics and good chance to get some rounds practice,” she told European Athletics.
The women’s 800m European Athletics Championships final takes place on Wednesday 12 June at the Stadio Olimpico.
Hodgkinson is also set to run at the British athletics trials, which will take place from 29-30 June.