Athletics-Only gold will do this time for 800 metres favourite Hodgkinson

A third Athletics World Championships in four years gives Keely Hodgkinson the opportunity to upgrade her two 800 metre silvers into gold and she heads to Tokyo a very different athlete to the one stood on the second step of the Eugene and Budapest podiums.

In fact, the 23-year-old Briton, who triumphed over two laps at the Paris Olympics last year, travels as one of the hottest favourites of the championships after turning round what had been threatening to be the most frustrating year of her career. The last few years have all been something of a whirl for Hodgkinson, an outstanding junior, who shot to fame by taking silver behind American Athing Mu at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as a 19-year-old, taking almost two seconds off her personal best.

In 2022 she lost a thrilling world final to Mu by eight hundredths of a second, leaving Kenya's Mary Moraa trailing. The following year in Eugene she beat Mu for the first time but again had to settle for silver as Moraa triumphed.

Although frustrated by a third global silver, Hodgkinson's rapid improvement gave her the confidence that she could beat "the big two" with another year under her belt. She warmed up for the 2024 Olympics by lowering her own British record to 1:54.61 - making her the sixth fastest woman ever over the distance - and by the time she hit Paris's purple track she, and everyone else in the field, knew she was the one to beat.

She duly delivered a textbook performance for gold, following Ann Packer and Kelly Holmes as British women 800m Olympic champions and earning her the BBC's sports personality of the year award for good measure. As is so often the case in athletics, however, just when she was reaching her peak, a hugely frustrating trough followed.

Hodgkinson had planned an assault on the indoor world record this February at the "Keely Klassic" event set up in her honour, but had to pull out with a hamstring tear. It proved to be a troublesome injury as complications ruled her out of much of the summer's racing and put her Tokyo participation in doubt.

However, in an astounding comeback on August 16 after a year off the track, she blasted to a Diamond League triumph in Silesia in a world-leading time of 1:54.74, also her second-fastest time ever. And just in case there were any lingering doubts about her fitness, she went again in Lausanne days later, defying miserable conditions to break the 23-year-old meeting record in 1:55.69.

"My coach said to me a few weeks ago 'you're actually ahead of schedule, I wanted you to be here by the time we're in Tokyo' - so to be here now is amazing," Hodgkinson said after her uplifting return. "Hopefully we can stay healthy and build on top of what we've got, and let's see what can happen. "It's been frustrating but it makes the good times sweeter and it makes it even better to be here now."

Her old rival Mu will not be in Tokyo after failing to get through the U.S. trials, while Moraa has also struggled for any sort of form this year. So, somewhat surprisingly, her main threat could come from closer to home after compatriot and training partner Georgia Hunter-Bell opted not to run in the 1,500m, where she won bronze in Paris, but to target just the 800 in Tokyo where she feels there is more of a medal chance. ( Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Toby Davis)

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