Keely Hodgkinson has comfortably qualified for the women’s 800m final at the Olympic Games after a convincing performance in the semi-final, with the Team GB star leading the way throughout the race.
The 22-year-old will compete for Olympic gold tomorrow night, hoping to go one better than the silver medal she won in Tokyo three years ago.
Her qualification comes after British duo Jemma Reekie and Phoebe Gill both failed to make it through to Monday’s final.
Reekie was very disappointed after a semi-final of 800 meters. She dropped out in the last 200 meters, while she had been among the leaders for most of the race.
Gill narrowly missed out on the final, finishing fourth in her semi-final. The 17-year-old lost to American Juliette Whittaker and French Renelle Lamote.
Keely Hodgkinson has qualified for the women’s 800m final at the Olympic Games after a convincing performance
A confident performance in the semi-finals saw the Team GB star lead the entire field
The 22-year-old will compete for Olympic gold tomorrow night
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Hodgkinson’s performance was reminiscent of a training run, with the Briton seemingly jogging across the finish line, several metres ahead of her rivals after building an early lead.
The big favourite nevertheless recorded an impressive time of 1 minute and 56.86 seconds – the fastest time of the Games so far.
Shortly after the race she told the BBC: ‘You can’t take any risks and it also gave me good training for tomorrow, but I just wanted to be sure of qualifying.
‘Job done. We are now in the finals, mission has begun.
‘I’ve been saying it all year: I really want to improve my silver.
“I think I’m in the best physical, mental and emotional shape to do that.”
“I just hope I can get it done tomorrow and then we’ll see what we can do.”
Paula Radcliffe, former women’s marathon world record holder, said she felt Hodgkinson was “in a different gear”.
She said, “This is another gear that definitely needs to come. Her calmness is so impressive.
“She carries the weight of an entire country on her shoulders as she goes into the final tomorrow night.”
Hodgkinson’s performance was reminiscent of a training ride in which the Briton appeared to jog across the finish line
The 22-year-old looked calm again tonight as she stood at the starting line
The big favourite still managed an impressive time of one minute and 56.86 seconds – the fastest of the Games so far
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After her heat on Friday, Hodgkinson said: ‘I hate heats, they’re just awful, they can catch you off guard and mistakes can be made.
‘For me heats are worse than finals so I’m happy I got through safely and without any problems and reached the semi-finals.’
Hodgkinson’s smile and wave at the starting line showed she was totally relaxed on the podium at the Stade de France.