Joe McConnell
Keely Hodgkinson lived up to her pre-Olympic favourite status by taking an impressive gold in the women’s 800m, one of five medals won by Team GB on day 10 in Paris.
Hodgkinson produced a masterly performance to become the first British woman to win an Olympic 800m title since Dame Kelly Holmes in 2004, crossing the line in 1:56.72 to hold off a late charge from Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma.
The 22-year-old, who won silver in Tokyo and had to settle for second place at two consecutive World Championships, took the lead midway through the race and never relinquished the top spot en route to a career-defining victory.
Hodgkinson moved from fifth to first on the opening lap before staying ahead of the chasing pack
Hodgkinson’s gold was one of two won by Team GB on Monday, with Britain breaking multiple world records in the women’s team sprint to claim the first cycling gold of the Games.
In the canoe slalom kayak final, two medals were won, one silver and one bronze, while the mixed triathlon relay team took bronze in the morning, after initially thinking they had come in second.
Hodgkinson praises incredible 800m success
Hodgkinson was the big favourite before the Games, having set a world best of 1:54.61 just over two weeks before the Olympics, and the Briton was delighted to have improved on her runner-up finish of three years earlier.
“It was absolutely incredible,” Hodgkinson said. he told the BBC. “I worked so hard last year and you could see how much it meant to me when I crossed the finish line. I can’t believe I finally did it.
Hodgkinson won gold for the British team in the women’s 800 metres
“It means so much to me. And to do it here, where is it better? The audience was absolutely incredible, it felt like home.
crowd for me, so I’m super happy. I still wanted to be close to the front of the race, probably faster after the first lap, but doing the semi-final and final back-to-back everyone was tired. It’s tough.
“I trusted myself, I could feel Mary [Moraa] coming towards me on the straight. But I showed composure and this time I crossed the finish line first. I took a cheeky look at the screen just to be sure, but you can’t do anything until you cross that line. Now I’m the Olympic champion for the next four years and no one can take that away from me.”
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Favorite Olympics memory? Biggest inspiration? Meet Keely Hodgkinson, the new Olympic 800m gold medalist
Where else have Team GB medals been won?
Britain’s eagerly awaited return to the women’s team sprint at the Olympics ended with gold, as Emma Finucane, Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell broke the world record three times on a perfect night.
Having failed to even qualify for this race since London 2012, Team GB set a new record in every round, recording the fastest time in qualifying at 45.472 seconds, before clocking 45.338 in the next round.
The British team then recorded a time of 45.186 seconds in the final, beating New Zealand by five-tenths of a second and claiming Britain’s first Olympic medal in the women’s team sprint.
Elsewhere, Joe Clarke entered the men’s kayak cross as a heavy favourite, with three world titles under his belt, but had to settle for second place in a relatively straightforward final four, behind New Zealand’s Finn Butcher.
The silver came moments after Kimberely Woods won bronze in the women’s event, having dropped from first to fourth place due to a mistake before Germany’s Elena Lilik was disqualified.
The other medal was won by the Great Britain mixed triathlon relay team, who failed to retain their Olympic title: their result was downgraded from silver to bronze following an administrative error.
Britain’s Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Samuel Dickinson and Beth Potter with their bronze medals after the mixed relay triathlon
Beth Potter crossed the line with American Taylor Knibb just behind Germany’s Laura Lindemann, and Britain was initially placed in second place only to take a closer look at the photo finish and make the race officials realise their mistake.
What else happened in athletics?
Dina Asher Smith She recovered from her 100m disappointment to book a spot in the Olympic 200m final, finishing second to American Gabby Thomas in her semifinal.
Asher-Smith, reduced to tears after losing the 100m final on Saturday, topped the event with a time of 22.31 seconds, while Darryl Denies He also reached the final after finishing second in the third semi-final.
Dina Asher-Smith is one of two Britons to qualify for the women’s 200m final
Neita, who missed out on bronze in the 100 metres by just four hundredths of a second, took second place in 22.24 behind American Brittany Brown. Team GB Bianca Williams he didn’t make it despite recording his best result of the season, placing fourth in his heat.
Sprinter Zharnel Hughes withdrew from the men’s 200m heats due to a hamstring problem, having missed the European and British Championships with a similar problem before failing to qualify for the men’s 100m final.
British medal favourite Molly Cauderi She left the women’s pole vault qualifying session without a score, having chosen to skip her attempt at 4.40 m and then failing to clear all three attempts at 4.55 m.
Molly Caudery won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and was expected to challenge for a medal
Caudery had earlier consoled his teammate Holly Bradshawbronze medal winner in Tokyo, who failed to progress in her last Olympics either because she failed to do 4.40.
How did the other Team GB candidates fare?
The GB women’s hockey team They have won medals at the last three Olympics, including a memorable gold at Rio 2016, although their hopes were dashed by a 3-1 quarter-final defeat to the Netherlands.
Diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix She qualified third for the women’s 10m individual final, which will take place on Tuesday, while her teammate Lois Toulson He placed 13th, narrowly missing out on placing in the required top 12.
Britain’s Team Jumping Heroes Ben Maher, Scott Brash AND Harry Charles They will all have the chance to win individual gold on the last day of riding action, having impressed in Monday’s qualifiers, while Michael Beckett is fourth on the eve of today’s medal race in the men’s dinghy.
Ellie Aldridge She is second in the women’s kite competition, as John Gimson AND Anna Burnet rose to fourth place in the mixed multihull category. Toby Roberts AND Hamish McArthur They are currently in third and eighth place respectively after the bouldering section of the men’s combined climbing semifinal.
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